Johnny Stecchino

Dante Ceccarini is a good-natured school bus driver for children with mental disabilities, content in his work but aware that life and romance have passed him by. That changes when Maria accidentally knocks him down with her car and appears to fall for him on the spot. She invites him to her luxurious villa in Palermo, and Dante goes gladly, unaware that he is a near-perfect double for her husband Johnny Stecchino, a gangster in hiding. Johnny's associates find it useful to have him declared dead, and Dante's resemblance makes him the ideal stand-in, turning the trip into a trap he never sees coming.

Roberto Benigni directed and co-wrote the film with Vincenzo Cerami, and plays both Dante and Johnny. It was his fourth feature as director, following Nothing Left to Do But Cry, Farewell to Enrico Berlinguer and The Little Devil, and it arrived before The Monster and Life Is Beautiful. Nicoletta Braschi, Paolo Bonacelli, Franco Volpi, Ivano Marescotti and Turi Scalia round out the cast. The film was produced by Mario and Vittorio Cecchi Gori through Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica and Penta Film, and runs 115 minutes.

Audiences have received Johnny Stecchino warmly: on IMDb it holds 7.2/10 from around 12,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.3/10 from roughly 1,000 votes. The critics' rating of 5.2/10 from 13 reviews is markedly lower, placing the film well above the professional consensus.