''My Name Is Tanino'' is a 2002

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Paolo Virzì Paolo Virzì (; born 4 March 1964) is an Italian film director, writer and producer. Early life and work Virzì was born in Livorno, Italy in 1964, as the son of a Sicily#Demographics, Sicilian police officer in the Carabinieri and a former sin ...

. The picaresque plot is about Tanino, an Italian liberal arts student who falls in love with a young American tourist he meets in Sicily and decides to track her down in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Plot

Gaetano Mendolìa, nicknamed Tanino, is a native of the fictional Castelluzzo del Golfo, a small seaside resort in the province of

Trapani Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an impor ...

, Sicily. He studies cinematography in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and dreams of becoming a movie director. He meets Sally, an American girl vacationing in Italy, with whom he has a brief romance. At the end of her vacation, Sally returns to the fictional Seaport,

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

but forgets her camera in Italy. Tanino decides to travel to the US with the pretext of returning Sally's camera to her but also to avoid Italian military service. He leaves at night without telling anyone. After arriving in America, Tanino has a series of adventures with the somewhat shady Li Causi family, Italian-Americans living in the US. Eventually he leaves them and finally meets up with Sally and her "perfect"

White Anglo-Saxon Protestant In the United States, White Anglo-Saxon Protestants or WASPs are an ethnoreligious group who are the white, upper-class, American Protestant historical elite, typically of British descent. WASPs dominated American society, culture, and politics ...

family, confounding them with his antics. Later, Tanino escapes the clutches of the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

by riding on the roof of a train and arrives in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

where he meets his idol, director Seymour Chinawsky. However Chinawsky is reduced to poverty and dies soon after promising to make a film with Tanino. Despite Tanino's many misadventures, he always comes out on top because of his ingenuity.

Cast

Corrado Fortuna Corrado Fortuna (born 31 March 1978) is an Italian actor and director. Career Born in Palermo, Fortuna debuted in 2002 with the title role in the film ''My Name Is Tanino'', directed by Paolo Virzi, with whom he then worked as assistant directo ...

: Tanino Mendolia *

Rachel McAdams Rachel Anne McAdams (born November 17, 1978) is a Canadian actress. After graduating from a theatre degree program at York University in 2001, she worked in Canadian television and film productions, such as the drama film ''Perfect Pie'' (200 ...

: Sally Garfield * Frank Crudele: Angelo Maria Li Causi *

Licinia Lentini Licinia Lentini (born 4 March 1959) is an Italian actress and television personality. She was sometimes credited as Lilian Lacy and Licia Lee Lyon. Life and career Born in Rome, Lentini achieved a wide popularity in 1980 as a showgirl in the R ...

: Marinella, mother of Tanino * Mary Long: Santa Li Causi *

Beau Starr Beau Starr (born September 1, 1944) is an American actor who has starred in movies and on television. He is known for his film role as Sheriff Ben Meeker in the 1988 hit horror movie '' Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers''; he reprised his ...

: Omobono *

Jessica De Marco Jessica may refer to: Given name * Jessica (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters with this name * Jessica Folcker, a Swedish singer known by the mononym Jessica * Jessica Jung, a Korean-American singer known by the m ...

: Angelina *

Lori Hallier Lori may refer to: *Lori (given name) *Lori Province, Armenia *Lori Fortress, a fortress in Armenia *Lori Berd, a village in Armenia *Kingdom of Tashir-Dzoraget, a historical Armenian kingdom from c. 980 to 1240, sometimes known as the Kingdom of L ...

: Leslie Garfield *Barry Flatman: Mr. Garfield *

Don Francks Don Harvey Francks (February 28, 1932 – April 3, 2016), also known by his stage name Iron Buffalo, was a Canadian actor, musician and singer. Career Don Harvey Francks was born on February 28, 1932, and was adopted shortly after his birth. H ...

: Chinawsky

References

External links

* * 2002 films Italian comedy films Canadian comedy films 2002 comedy films 2000s English-language films English-language Italian films 2000s Italian-language films Films directed by Paolo Virzì Films set in the United States Films set in Sicily 2002 multilingual films Canadian multilingual films Italian multilingual films Italian-language Canadian films 2000s Canadian films {{2000s-comedy-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links