“The Kidnapping of Arabella” plays like a comedy, though comedies about mental illness are, understandably, few and far between. It helps, though, that this sophomore feature by Carolina Cavalli is Italian: The long tail of Fellini can be sensed wagging through every quirky character and unwaveringly deadpan exchange.
Also in the plus column are actors, especially the two leads, who sell the film’s oddness with admirable ease. The 7-year-old Arabella (Lucrezia Guglielmino) is an angel-faced moppet who, over the course of the movie, arcs from bratty to winsome. Her abductor is Holly (Benedetta Porcaroli), 28, a troubled petty thief and scam artist who, finding Arabella alone in a fast-food restaurant parking lot, comes to believe that the child is Holly’s younger self. Playing along with the delusion, the quick-witted Arabella sees her new friend as an escape from boredom and an opportunity to punish her self-involved father (Chris Pine), a tormented author, for his neglect and solipsism.
What ensues is an overstretched road movie punctuated by strange encounters and farcical situations. Virtually everyone here appears neurodivergent to some degree, probably in response to a screenplay (by the director) marinating in emotional damage. Arabella and Holly are both essentially motherless; the depressed police officer on their trail (Marco Bonadei) suffers verbal abuse from a father who appears to hate him; a nervous fast-food worker (Milutin Dapcevic) cowers before Holly’s bullying; and an aging dance teacher (a formidable Eva Robin’s) is quick to exploit Holly’s vulnerability.
All of this results in a tone that’s too melancholy and wistful to spark much laughter. In a narrative hinging on dashed dreams and disappointment, Pine (speaking credible Italian) is fine, if something of a curiosity. Lying in the lap of the woman he has paid to listen to him read, his character just might be the saddest of all.
The Kidnapping of Arabella Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 47 minutes. In theaters.
The post ‘The Kidnapping of Arabella’ Review: Stolen Childhoods appeared first on New York Times.
