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This film, the first ever produced by Disney in Italy, is not an awful one, but has lots of flaws. The plot line is simple: it's the story of Salvatore, a young Sicilian orphan, who quits school and starts working in order to support his little sister and his grandma. Only his young, idealistic teacher (Enrico Lo Verso) befriends him, going everyday after school to his house, to teach him the lessons he misses in the morning and to help him in his work. The title of this film literally means "Salvatore - that's life" - the problem is life isn't really like that. The whole plot is schmaltzy and unrealistic, and most of character are one-dimensional and underdeveloped. The acting is unequal: part of the cast is good, part is dismal. Lo Verso is a fine actor and does well as the lead character, Gabriele Lavia is great as the headmaster and does a convincing Sicilian accent. Giancarlo Giannini appears briefly as a mob boss - he's not bad, but you have the impression he's in the film just to please the American producers who invested in it. The boy who plays Salvatore is not very talented - he mumbles a lot, with a strong Sicilian accent, and in the most emotional scenes just screams with all his voice. But the real problem of the cast is the female part of it: Lucia Sardo, who plays the grandmother, is evidently a young woman heavily made up to look old - just awful!- and Galatea Ranzi shows some very bad acting as the social worker who wants to put Salvatore in an orphanage. One last thing: I hated the Laura Pausini song used in the movie. It's annoying and strengthens the feeling this film was thought to be exported. My rating is 6-/10
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