Director: Gianni Amelio
Cast: Kim Rossi Stuart, Andrea Rossi, Charlotte Rampling


In the Venice Film Festival 2004, it garnered the
-- Pasinetti Award - Best Film
-- Pasinetti Award - Best Actor (Kim Rossi Stuart)
-- Sergio Trasatti Award - Gianni Amelio
-- 'CinemAvvenire' Award - Best Film

Expectedly, this film was Italy's submission to the Oscar in 2005.
;)


What I like ...
-- Definitely the entire cast, they carried their roles very well. In particular, Kim Rossi Stuart and Charlotte Rampling displayed very controlled performance.
-- All the dialogues were so realistic, with a script that did not seek to be too melodramatic nor unbelievable. Instead, it told of very genuine thoughts and emotions ...
;)
Yup, it had the potential to be very weepy ... but that was not the intent ... Instead, it tried to create mixed feelings in the audience (like the father) ... it had a mix of fun and upset ... it had a mix of hope and dismay ... it had a mix of serenity and anxiety ... etc
-- There were a few very good scenes,
e.g., ALL the conversations between the two adults
e.g., the therapy scene
e.g., the last scene with the father and the kid


What may be problematic ...
-- The trip to Norway was kind of lame ... Also, their choice of Germany over Italy for therapy was not well explained ...
-- As the film was not events driven, some audience might get bored after a while ...
-- Depending on individuals, some audience might also not feel much for the protagonists because the emotions were not uniformly sad throughout ...
-- The female character was not fully developed nor "ended" ...
-- Finally, although I did not think so, some might find the ending too abrupt ...


Conclusion:
If you like a film with realistic character study, go for it.
If you prefer plot over characters, then do not bother ...