YOU BELONG TO ME

Alex lives with his son Danny and is trying to rebuild his life far away from his violent ex-husband Giulian. One night, Alex hears noises inside the house and finds a stuffed teddy bear in Danny's room; thinking that Giulian has returned, intending to take the child away, Alex decides to alert the police. When the lawyer who had supported the woman in the divorce process and who is now her new boyfriend is attacked and almost killed, Alex becomes convinced that Giulian is seeking revenge. But the reality is quite different and the threat is not even human. It's a strange feeling to realize that today they have the courage to spend money producing stuff like this; sure, it's still an innocuous TV production aimed at a wide audience, but even if objectively evaluated "Due vite per amore" is an unsalvageable film. The title "Due vite per amore", by the way, is one of the worst and most misleading translations I've come across in recent years (the original title of the film is "You Belong to Me"), since the supernatural thriller genre to which this film belongs is completely canceled, suggesting a sentimental drama or a romantic comedy. But it doesn't matter, even if the title had been great the film remains terrible. The production company, the Canadian Incendo Productions, is specialized in TV films of the thriller/mystery genre and does nothing but apply the supernatural variant to the well-known story of the young mother persecuted by a violent ex-husband. As banal as it is, it could also have been a winning combination, but the result brought to the stage by Richard Roy is frankly disarming. Imagine the flattest and most boring TV movie you've ever seen, one of the many indistinguishable little thrillers that Rai used to broadcast on Saturday evenings. Well, we are in those territories if not worse. The story proceeds through countless clichés with a sustainedly slow rhythm, suspicions and mysteries accumulate that the viewer can anticipate and solve with great speed until a very telegraphed plot twist that however does not represent the conclusion of the film but adds a new element that makes the film "jump" into the "genre". At this point, banality upon banality begins to unfold, ridiculous theories on parapsychology and an awkward conclusion that comes too quickly to leave room for a little final melodrama. The packaging, obviously, is patinatingly television and the direction of the darling of TV films Richard Roy ("Nella morsa dell'inganno"; "Il profumo della paura") is anonymous like a pack of discount cookies. Among a sea of unknown television faces to the most appears the beautiful and too little used Shannon Elizabeth ("American Pie"; "I 13 Spettri") in the role of the protagonist, a good and sexy actress that we hope does not end up definitely in the anonymity of TV films. In short, "Due vite per amore"... rather "You Belong to Me" (the Italian title really cannot be read, eh!) is to be discouraged even to the worst enemy, a mess of banality that no one really needed.