In this role, Mariano doesn\u2019t really do much governing, other than occasionally meeting with visiting heads of state and contemplating pardons. With just six months left in his seven-year term, the aging Mariano is struck by the things he can and cannot do with his time left\u2014both in office and on earth. The main issue concerning his final moments in the position is, perhaps fittingly, a euthanasia bill that his daughter, Dorothea (Anna Ferzetti), encourages him to sign with little hope that he\u2019ll actually take action. La Grazia<\/em> is consumed by thoughts of how we leave this world, both in terms of our deaths but also in our legacy. But for Mariano, those thoughts don\u2019t lead to much actually happening.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nicknamed \u201cReinforced Concrete,\u201d Mariano appears unmovable and unmoved, a stable force as Italy recovers from their previous president who threw the nation into a crisis. La Grazia<\/em> is equally slow moving, punctuated by some scenes that bring life to a film that is largely more sedate and reflective than we\u2019re used to from the director. It intentionally lacks the excess that marks much of Sorrentino\u2019s filmography, like The Great Beauty<\/em> and Loro,<\/em> in both subject and style. Mariano is a study in mostly imposed restraint: Dorothea restricts her father\u2019s diet to the likes of steamed fish, quinoa, and herbal tea, and his only indulgence is a single daily cigarette and a secret penchant for pop music. Is life even worth living if you can\u2019t have pasta? And while La Grazia<\/em> has some big moments and stylistic flourishes, this drama is generally more pensive, proceeding from scene to scene with less consistent rhythm than the pulsing songs that Mariano can\u2019t resist tapping his feet along with.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unsurprisingly, there always excellent Servillo is the film\u2019s MVP. Across eight collaborations with Sorrentino, he\u2019s played similarly significant figures, like real-life prime ministers, but he brings something different to Mariano. He manages to make the man called \u201cReinforced Concrete\u201d into something interesting and dynamic. A former judge, he struggles with the moral weight of his decisions, both personally and politically, with the strain subtly showing on his face. Less subtle is the role of his lifelong friend, art critic Coco Valori. Played with verve by Milvia Marigliano, she\u2019s the type of stylish, brassy broad that we should all aspire to be once we stop giving a fuck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At 55, Sorrentino is still relatively young, but La Grazia <\/em>feels like the kind of movie a director makes as his swan song as he\u2019s contemplating his own mortality and legacy. There\u2019s a sense of finality that permeates its tone and arc, as it moves slowly yet gracefully toward its conclusion. This wouldn\u2019t be the most fitting end for his filmography, but it wouldn\u2019t be the worst way to go either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “La Grazia” is in theaters Friday.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/la-grazia2-1024x577.webp\")
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