One of my all time favorites.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Wow! It's just a minute ago I've turned off the TV after watching this film. I recommend you NOT to even dare to watch it. Have you ever seen Italian films? They're amongst the best films in the world. Italians are creative, sensitive, daring and they're never afraid to experiment.Italians are intelligent and really good at design, filmmaking, beauty and history. This film is -BEWARE!!!!!!- NOT Italian. This is a piece of rubbish that is sorrowful and painful to watch. Whoever wrote the script and directed it should be put behind bars after throwing away millions upon millions just to make this. I'm ashamed that Studio Canal decided to back such a project. (If you really want to watch a bit of what Italian Masters do,go to: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0456041)Good actors that are performing like doped mannequins (that's one of the reasons why theatre is for the skilled ones), a script that stumbles and gives up the whole story from the very beginning; unimaginable deviations of tone and pace... the list is one of the most complete I've ever witnessed in the history of filmmaking. Maybe the only thing I'd praise is sfx and photography. Poor guy the one who did it, who will ever admire his craft if it's been put through a shredder? I'm -yes, I know- feeling dizzy and sorry for the folks who had anything to do with this "film". Poor Mattia, the kid who plays the role of Ettore... I guess this was debut and farewell. If they were to pay me whatever they paid the actors and actresses in this film, I wouldn't show my face, and I'd rather erase all the credits just to save the souls of all the people who did a great job and, most surely, broke their backs to make this crap happening.I guess there's nothing to say about the plot or script or any creative or artistic quality in the film. Please!!!! let Italians do what they are best at. Sorry again, I'm so upset to even think that I made it through the end. I stopped the film at least twenty times, stupidly thinking it could get better. Lost two hours of my life and 1/4 of my liver.

There is little to add to the other comments about this lengthy bore with its handsome images of an erupting volcano and lovely villas, its bad continuity, lack of chemistry between MacDowell and Keitel, generally wooden or uncoordinated acting, meandering, incomprehensible plot with an illogical set up (FBI man takes wife and kid to a dangerous assignment) and its preposterously heroic 11-year-old boy (let's not be too hard on newcomer Mattia De Martino: he does his best to impersonate a tough, angry kid; his acting is more convincing than Keitel's). I do want to mention something that drew me to rent the DVD besides the combination of Keitel, Harry Dean, and Asia Argento, and the fact that Pradal's first (and previous) film, 'Marie baie des anges' (1997) is haunting and evocative and original and 'stunningly beautiful' (Stephen Holden, NYTimes). This is the fact that Tonino Benacquista worked on the screenplay. Benaquista has been a fantastic collaborator with Jacques Audiard on 'Sur mes lèvres' ('Read My Lips') and 'De battre mon coeur s'est arreté' ('The Beat My Heart Skipped'). Well, Benacquista's talents did not help here any more than anybody else's. His participation may have been limited. He is more permanently listed on Pradal's subsequent (2006) 'Un crime'('A Crime'), which has gotten higher marks, and I'm curious to see that. Apparently it has just come out in a US DVD (July 2009) so it will eventually be available for rental. I haven't given up, because 'Marie baie des anges' is an experience one can go back to again and again. If Pradal could make that, he ought to be able to make another good film.

I have used IMDb for years to look up movies. I have never been compelled to write about one. But I must warn anyone thinking about watching this movie. Please for God's sake, find another movie. I cannot begin to describe how boring this movie is. I rented it because the actors in it are normally first rate, well they were terrible and the directing was ridiculous. It's still on here at my house, it is near the end, and I could care less about how it ends. I just wasted 2 hours of my life, it feels like a day and a half, or a half a day depending on what scene I am watching. Shoot me now. The premise is that an FBI agent is protecting a young boy from the mafia family that his father worked for. The boys family was killed by the mafia and the FBI agent was semi-responsible because he was protecting the boys family before the father testified against the mafia. However, one of the FBI agents friends leaks the info to the mafia family, thus the family is killed but they missed the boy. This premise could have made for a riveting and action packed movie, it is neither, it is packed with meaningless dialog, scenes that are unnecessary and forgetful characters.

I saw this movie at the Toronto Filmfest and had such high hopes... soon to be dashed. The plot is both confused and boring, leaving the audience incapable of identifying with the characters. The backdrop of an erupting volcano tries to give the film tension but merely confuses the storyline. Harvey Keitel manages to make some of the movie at least watchable but this movie rated high on the numb-bum-omiter... for a movie pegged at 135 mins it felt like 4 hours.The whole audience was left in stunned silence at the end of the movie. When the Q and A started the director was asked "what were the evil nuns about? " he didn't seem to know what they were there for either... I'd like to think it was a nod to Monty Python ;-)