IGN.com|AskMen.com|Rotten Tomatoes|GameSpy|FilePlanet|TeamXbox|CheatsCodesGuides|GameStats|Direct2Drive

RottenTomatoes.com

Register | Log In | What is RT?
It's our 10th birthday, so you get presents!
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Photos & Trailers The Vine Forums
Box Office | Best Of | Certified Fresh | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
 
MOVIES / ON DVD / CATERINA IN THE BIG CITY
Caterina in the Big City

Rate This Movie

Write a Review
See Pictures
Share This Movie
Add to List
Buy Poster

Bookmark and Share

Caterina in the Big City (2005)

89%
100%
66%
N/A
N/A
N/A
89 %
Reviews Counted: 36 Fresh: 32  Rotten:4 Average Rating: 7.4/10
 
Consensus: This witty movie succeeds as both a modest teen coming-of-age story and a satirical microcosm of Italy's political climate.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins

Synopsis: A coming of age story about a 15-year-old provincial girl who moves to Rome and finds her new tony private school is a microcosm of the cultural and political divisions of Italian society. When her parents, Giancarlo (Sergio Castellitto) and Agata (Margherita Buy), move from a seaside town in... A coming of age story about a 15-year-old provincial girl who moves to Rome and finds her new tony private school is a microcosm of the cultural and political divisions of Italian society. When her parents, Giancarlo (Sergio Castellitto) and Agata (Margherita Buy), move from a seaside town in Tuscany to an ailing aunt's apartment in the big city, Caterina (Alice Teghil) is ready for something new. Dad, a teacher in a tech school, has undisguised social ambitions and is delighted to see a list of famous last names attending his old alma mater, where Caterina will also be going. Her class is split between revolutionary no-globals and rich kids who parrot their parents' conservative ideas. Both sides try to bring the new girl into their sphere of influence. She's first drawn to Margherita (Carolina Iaquaniello), a mercurial hippie princess whose mom (Galatea Ranzi) is a politically active intellectual. This first phase of Caterina's social education ends when Margherita gets her drunk and tattoos her arm. Giancarlo arrives, intending to get Margherita's mother to find a publisher for his novel, which he has given her daughter to read. Abruptly switching from fawning to outraged, he insults everyone before dragging the vomiting Caterina home. Caterina soon falls in with the flighty Daniela (Federica Sbrenna) and her circle of rich, cell phone totting mall-rats. After making her over into an urban sophisticate, they introduce her to a quiet young aristocrat with a disapproving mother and to Daniela's father, a right-wing undersecretary (Claudio Amendola) in Berlosconni’s government. As her parent’s marriage disintegrates in the face of her father’s social frustrations, Catherina finds comfort in her extended family and hope for the future in a budding romance (and perhaps the prospect of emigration someday) with a boy from Australia. -- © Empire Pictures [More]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: Sergio Castellitto, Margherita Buy, Alice Teghil, Carolina Iaquaniello, Galatea Ranzi

Director: Paolo Verzi
Screenwriter: Francesco Bruni, Paolo Verzi

DVD Info

Release:

May 11, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Keep Case

Audio:

  • (unspecified) - Italian
  • Subtitles - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Trailers - Theatrical Trailer

Reviews

 
T-Meter Critics
 
 
Top Critics
 
 
RT Community
 
 
My Critics
 
 
My Friends
 
 
DVD
 
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By: Name | Fresh | Rotten | Date | Source
 
 
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
08/16/07
Anna Smith
Time Out New York
Ratings Image
N/A

A truly wonderful coming-of-age tale, suffused with wit and warmth.

Full Review | comment Comment
03/01/07
David Noh
Film Journal International
Ratings Image
B+

On the surface, Caterina in the Big City is like Mean Girls, Italian-style. But it's much more layered than that.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/03/05
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ratings Image
2.5/4

The Italian Caterina in the Big City is sloppy, but it's on to something.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/07/05
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Ratings Image
3/4

Caterina in the City is a coming-of-age story, of course, but its adult characters are also well rendered.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/07/05
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
09/26/05
Onion AV Club
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

An odd, and oddly dishonest bird.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/24/05
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan
Ratings Image
3/5

Caterina faces challenges in this coming-of-age movie, but nothing earth-shattering or exceptional.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/23/05
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com
Ratings Image
B

It's an adolescent-to-adult drama that never veers into maudlin or sugary territory. There's a realness on screen that translates to any culture.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/22/05
Mario Tarradell
Dallas Morning News
Ratings Image
3/4

Though Caterina is unusually well-acted and crafted for this kind of movie ... Giancarlo is the one character who makes the movie special.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/08/05
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
08/27/05
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2.5/4

Played in a manic, volcanic manner by Castellitto, Giancarlo is a constant source of humor and embarrassment.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/26/05
Rene Rodriguez
Miami Herald
Ratings Image
7/10

...a funny, affecting, and intricate comedy that continually surprises and gets better as it goes along.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/04/05
Josh Ralske
All Movie Guide
Ratings Image
2.5/4

It's not a satire, it's a family drama whose social and political thoughts flicker like a neon sign on the fritz. Alas, sentimentality is the movie's pilot light.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/22/05
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Ratings Image
3.5/4

A warm and resonant comedy.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/21/05
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer
Ratings Image
N/A

Caterina in the Big City won't change your life, but it moves along spiffily and the young Teghil is adorable as she adventures gamely onward.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/15/05
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post
Ratings Image
4/5

A lovely and thoughtful exploration of the end of childhood innocence.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/15/05
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
Ratings Image
3/4

The film uses its surprisingly sly humor to win over the audience and also manages to say quite a bit about the differences between the haves and have-nots of the world, yet without becoming too full of itself.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/15/05
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Ratings Image
N/A

A blend of gentle comedy and poignant drama.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/14/05
Michael O'Sullivan
Washington Post
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
See More Topics...

Related Forums

REEL_REVIEWER
CATERINA IN THE CITY takes a 15 yr. old female bumpkin & puts her thru Rome-ification
by: REEL_REVIEWER 4/9/06


REEL_REVIEWER
CATERINA IN THE CITY takes a 15 yr. old female bumpkin & puts her thru Rome-ification
by: REEL_REVIEWER 4/9/06


REEL_REVIEWER
CATERINA IN THE CITY takes a 15 yr. old female bumpkin & puts her thru Rome-ification
by: REEL_REVIEWER 4/9/06


REEL_REVIEWER
CATERINA IN THE CITY takes a 15 yr. old female bumpkin & puts her thru Rome-ification
by: REEL_REVIEWER 4/9/06
all

Pictures

Around the Network

• Caterina in the Big City at Rotten Tomatoes
• Caterina in the Big City at AskMen
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.