Mid-August Lunch

A slender Chekhovian vignette about the joys and regrets of old age and the pleasures of sociability.

The film is a slice of life, and although nothing earthshaking happens, at only 75 minutes long, it never quite tries your patience either.

Thankfully, the actor-director prepares this potential recipe for hokeyness with all-natural ingredients, casting four of the feistiest biddies he could find, who are all the more endearing for being unadorned.

It may be difficult for the youth-obsessed American culture to appreciate the quiet joys rendered in this Italian charmer. But, given the increasing dominion of the Baby-Boomer Generation--hungry for life-affirming images of old age--Mid-August Lunch could prove a sleeper-in-the-making.

A pleasant taste of Roman life.

These women are marvelous, with ancient, creased faces and the kind of admirable f...-all attitude that comes with age. I couldn't take my eyes off them.

It's tasty enough, and probably good for you, but at 73 minutes, the film is hardly a very filling entree.