My Friends

My Friends is a 1975 Italian comedy directed by Mario Monicelli. It follows a group of men in their fifties who have been close for years and who rely on elaborate practical jokes to get through the disappointments of middle age. They call their outings and pranks "zingarate," and their targets include strangers, acquaintances and, most persistently, a retired man named Righi, whom they torment even at a funeral. The group includes a journalist, an architect, a bar owner and an impoverished nobleman who lives in a cellar, and their shared mischief keeps them united against the troubles of their own lives.

The film stars Ugo Tognazzi, Gastone Moschin, Philippe Noiret, Duilio Del Prete and Adolfo Celi, with Bernard Blier as Righi. Monicelli directed it as the eleventh of the sixteen films he made in chronological order, after Come Home and Meet My Wife and before Dear Michele. The screenplay was written by Leonardo Benvenuti, Tullio Pinelli and Piero De Bernardi, and the film was produced by Carlo Nebiolo and Andrea Rizzoli.

Running 140 minutes, it was a considerable success with audiences in Italy and remains widely seen. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.9 out of 10 from roughly 8,600 votes, while on TMDB it rates 8.1 out of 10 from about 765 votes. Both scores are high and close together, indicating a film that continues to satisfy viewers decades after its release.