Promise Me This is a laugh-out-loud comedy, but a shallow one and not much else. The plot follows an aging peasant grandfather who sends his son to the city to get three things: an icon of St. Nicholas, a souvenir, and a wife. There he finds the woman of his dreams and gets into trouble with the local mob. I was excited coming in because the director, Emir Kusturica, has already won two Palme d'Ors and I was hoping this movie would be amazing too. In fact, it is not. The humor is sometimes too over-the-top and exaggerated, such that it is no longer funny. Specifically the flying man (whose inclusion makes almost no sense narratively even) and the demolition of the club near the end show how ludicrous and unnecessary parts of the movie were. Not only that, but the special effects for those two parts were heinous. The flying guy character was worthless, as was the school bully Tomic--there are probably some other characters I am forgetting because they are so forgettable. The story itself was equally pointless; there is no real depth, just superficial fun.There were many parts I liked about the movie too. It is genuinely funny, as I was laughing pretty much the entire time. And it was a very fun movie; it seemed like a real joy for Kusturica to have made this. The acting was good for what it was, that is, not realistic. The music was exceptional and very fun as well. I like how it was used sometimes as a person's characteristic or trademark (the superintendent trying to woo Bosa). The editing was on point--crisp, succinct, nothing cheesy. There was also some cool action that was fun to watch. Overall a decent movie, meaning I probably wouldn't turn it off if it popped up on the TV, but I wouldn't go out and try to find it.
IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0479519/