Kate Woods has given her audience exactly what they wanted - a fine adaptation of a popular novel by Melina Marchetta - "Looking for Alibrandi." There is much to enjoy about this film - its great performances, its careful dissection of family, love and migration. However I believe there are elements of the film Looking for Alibrandi that vaguely let it down. In my opinion it isn't the best evaluation of the book. It lacks a number of minor but significant details as well as relationships which have not been developed particularly well. However it wins simply because it doesn't want to club you with misery or entertain you with stupidity, as so much of the cinema does.
Looking for Alibrandi comes alive due to the performance of Pia Miranda as the teenager struggling to come to some understanding of herself. She is vibrant and totally charming as Josie, and she is forced to carry the greatest weight in this film. Yet on her shoulders it seems no burden at all; she is up to every challenge thrown her way. - The character of Nonna, played by Elena Colta, was also well achieved. It splendidly portrayed an old pesky grandmother and mother with a diverse background. I reflect that there was a satisfying amount of Nonna's character shown very well throughout the film. However not a good development of character of Josie's mother Christina, played by Greta Scacchi, took place. Nor was there a good development of relationship between Josie and her mother. The film could have probably done with an extra 20 minutes, as it seems to jump too frequently in an effort to get to that final scene, without stopping to develop some of the relationships and to study the issues the film raises.] Michael Andretti was played well by Anthony LaPaglia, however I was a little bit disappointed by the role which Kick Gurry played. I think Jacob Coote's character wasn't chosen carefully like the others, or maybe it was just the lack of performance by Kick Gurry, either way I thought it could have been better.
