THE STORY – Four tenants live in the same building in an Israeli city. Each faces personal problems and emotional voids. Their lives intertwine as they search for fulfillment, connection, and redemption.
THE CAST – Louis Garrel, Jasmine Trinca, Hippolyte Girardot, Angela Finocchiaro, Melina Åkerman, Elena Lietti, Andrea Lattanzi, Antonio De Matteo & Nanni Moretti
THE TEAM – Nanni Moretti (Director/Writer), Federica Pontremoli & Valia Santella (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 103 Minutes
Romantic relationships can always find themselves forming under unusual circumstances. It would be nice for all parties involved if it was a simple process of meeting without any prior entanglements and the pieces fell neatly in place for a happily ever after. Of course, the real world hardly behaves as such. Truthfully, it’s rather mundane to imagine such events playing out if one wants the most dramatic effect. The several points of conflict are what gives these tales a sharper sense of vibrancy. It’s very clear that these kinds of messy intersections are the avenues that “It Will Happen Tonight” believes are worth exploring. Unfortunately, it does so in a tedious manner that’s difficult to find compelling.
There are two worlds being tracked as they find occasions to collide into one another. One of them belongs to Matteo (Louis Garrel), a man who has experienced one bad relationship after his girlfriend left him after the birth of their child. While living in Rome, he happens to randomly cross paths with Greta (Jasmine Trinca). She’s on her way to get married but happens to see him playing tennis with his brother. She challenges him to a match and easily beats him. There’s a spark of attraction but it goes unpursued at this moment. Years later, they have another brief encounter in Spain. Matteo has brought his ailing father to a Bruce Springsteen concert taking place at the exact same time Greta is shooting a film there. She bumps into him while frantically searching for her daughter who momentarily disappeared from her sight. Again, their connection is only for an instant. It isn’t until years pass yet again that the two meet in Rome. Both are married with their own children, but that initial attraction has not diminished. They pursue a love affair, attempting to see if the different necessities in their lives can balance into a life together or be perpetually doomed to never quite come together.
For notable Italian filmmaker Nanni Moretti, there is an engrossing notion that’s worthy of analysis. The continuing serendipity that pulls individuals close in orbit before spitting them out again, desperately hoping for collision, is a fascinating concept. It speaks to the disorganized manner that relationships can manifest, which can even recognize the collateral damage along the way. However, the central dynamic has to be intriguing, and that comes down to the draw that these participants have to one other. As such, whatever binds Matteo and Greta together never feels intense enough to warrant that investment. Both of them obviously have dissatisfaction with their current lives, but when they meet for the third time in that coffee shop and Matteo divulges his passionate feelings toward her, it’s not particularly persuasive that caution should be thrown to the wind and they cement this love affair. The characters that Moretti and his co-writers have crafted love to muse about their emotions but are fairly uninteresting figures themselves. Most of the narrative doesn’t even concern their relationship, just separate domestic affairs that are fairly trite on their own (a rebellious daughter and an estranged former lover, for example). When the story does find the time to focus on them, the portrait is not an enthralling one to witness. The momentum that should propel them forward is languid and stale.
There isn’t a great deal regarding the filmmaking either. The scenery is nicely captured, and the Roman streets maintain their picturesque setting, but the banal camerawork and editing offer nothing special. The only exception is an amusing sequence that follows a day of the pair spending time together, and their intense feelings manifest in the form of a dance number in the streets set to The Rolling Stones’s “She’s a Rainbow,” complete with strangers joining in on the choreography. It’s a scene that is very similar in construction to the post-coital jubilee in “500 Days of Summer” set to a Hall & Oates song, and it’s just as charming. However, it’s really the only moment that makes a significant impact. The rest of the bland imagery is merely serviceable as Alberto Iglesias’s score underlines these scenes. It’s an alluring bit of musicality that also can’t help but feel like it is assembled from rejected tracks from a Pedro Almodóvar film as well.
The chemistry between Garrel and Trinca is pleasantly endearing, but the nature of the storytelling never really allows them to become believable partners. As such, the scenes they share have a sweet nature but do not live beyond the surface either. The latter has slightly more layers, and her performance captures the mentality that seeks control in a sea of chaos. It can lead a tad into the histrionics, but it’s still an effective portrayal. Garrel always seems to have an effortless screen presence, but at the same time, something more charming is missing here. The somber streaks don’t give as much dimensionality as intended, instead coming across as stiff and distant. It’s not a terrible performance, but far from his more memorable turns. Ironically, for a film meant to center itself on a love story, it’s a supporting character outside that plight who is the most fun to watch. Hippolyte Girardot plays Matteo’s father, a boisterous gentleman who lists lusts for life despite his health problems. Seeing his buoyant personality is delightful and captivating, whether that be his crude jokes or lothario-like actions. He makes the biggest impression among the cast, by far.
The foundation of “It Will Happen Tonight” does allow for an interesting set of events to play out, but that potential remains largely unfulfilled. Very little about these interactions builds to a satisfying arc between them. The final connection they make after another few years pass brings one to the brink of becoming fully invested, but these two people are simply too dull to find that enthralling. It makes the storytelling very tedious, and a handful of creative moments and few amusing side characters cannot rescue this endeavor. One can appreciate its willingness to see how love can manifest in strange places, but a satisfying narrative to watch is elusive here.
