DVD: The Salt of Life (12)

The Salt of Life, like Gianni Di Gregorio's Mid-August Lunch (a far superior film), is the sort of low-key whimsy that encourages critics to dish out praise like "charming", "life-affirming" etc.

When, in actual fact, it's just terribly slight. Di Gregorio himself plays sixtysomething Gianni, a mournful, unemployed Italian who run errands for various ladies, mostly for his demanding 95-year-old mama (Valeria De Franciscis, the best thing on show here), around Rome's lively Trastevere quarter. Miserable in his marriage, he and his lawyer pal (Alfonso Santagata) perv after women. And fail to pull. And that's it. Flimsy.