The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

 
Hayley (Pill) and Michelangelo (Parenti), an American tourist and a handsome Rome resident, meet, fall in love and soon after become engaged; an a occasion brings Hayley’s parents, Phyllis (Davis) and Jerry (Allen) over from New York. Her father, a retired Opera director who is restless in his new lifestyle – regularly comparing it to death – soon becomes obsessed with Michelangelo’s father, Giancarlo (Armiliato); a happy-go-lucky undertaker with a hidden talent.

In a different stand of the story, successful American architect John (Baldwin) returns to Rome to relive his young adulthood years where he meets a young architect-student Jack (Eisenberg). Jack is living with his girlfriend Sally (Gerwig), who complicates matters when she decides to bring in her flighty and alluring best-friend Monica (Page) for the summer.

Another side plot is of Antonio (Tiberi) and Milly (Mastronardi); a newlywed couple visiting Rome for their honeymoon. Things gets messy for the young lovers when Antonio accidentally encounters haughty prostitute, Anna (Cruz), while trying to impress his snotty relatives for a possible job promotion, while Milly gets up to adventures of her own while lost in search of a hair salon.

Finally, there is Leopoldo (Benigni); a working-class family man who one day awakens to find that he’s become famous, for no apparent reason. With reporters following his every move, Leopoldo becomes one of the most famous men in Italy.

The film’s major problem is that it ultimately doesn’t give each of the stories enough attention to fully develop.  It seems a case of too much to say, not enough time to say it, and the script often wanders into incoherence and pointless noise.