Loose Cannons

A man discovers it's harder to scandalize his family than he expected in this comedy from writer and director Ferzan Ozpetek. Vincenzo (Ennio Fantastichini) has devoted most of his life to building up the successful pasta company founded by his grandfather, and now that he's getting older he plans to hand over the business to his sons, Antonio (Alessandro Preziosi) and Tommaso (Riccardo Scamarcio). While Antonio has been working at Vincenzo's side in Lecce for years, Tommaso has been living in Rome, but while his folks think he's been dutifully attending business school, the truth is he's lost all interest in the pasta company. Tommaso's parents also don't know that he's gay and living with his boyfriend Marco (Carmine Recano), and when Vincenzo wants a family meting to discuss his future role in the company, Tommaso comes up with a plan -- he'll tell his parents that he's gay and living with Marco, and they'll be so shocked they'll hand the reigns over to Antonio. However, Tommaso's plan is delayed when his father suffers a heart attack shortly after he arrives back home, and when he does drop the bombshell on his family, they are shocked -- but still expect him to do his part in the family business. Meanwhile, Tommaso's sister Elena (Bianca Nappi) wants to work her way into the company, his mother Stefania (Lunetta Savino) is baffled by the news, and one of Tommaso's new business partners Alba (Nicole Grimaudo) falls for him even though she knows he's gay. Mine Vaganti (aka Loose Cannons) received its North American premiere at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.