I Love Karditsa (2010)

Mike Kanias who lives in New York is the fist cloned man and he owes 30 million to the mafia, to save himself decides to change positions with his clone in Karditsa. I love Karditsa feels like someone in Greece saw The Godfather, The 6th Day and Multiplicity and said hey? Let's make a greek movie with a bunch of good actors in silly roles with lot's of cursing, over the top and horrendous acting but also a plot that hardly makes even a bit of a sense. I Love Karditsa is probably and without a doubt one of the worst Greek movies i have seen in years. (0/10) (F)

Synopsis: Weird science, 30 million dollars in missing mob money and a couple of hit men on a mission create a riotous comedy farce from filmmaker Stratos Markidis.When New Yorker Mike Kanias stops for some cigarettes and loses a truckload of mafia money he knows it's only a matter of time before the mob comes looking for him. But Mike isn't your average guy - he's the world's first human clone, created in the 70s by a group of pioneering scientists. Now to escape his pursuers he's traveling to the small Greek village of Karditsa to trade places with Grigoris Kanias, the man they cloned him from, but lazy womanizer Grigoris is in some trouble of his own.Review: The other reviewer Yiannis from Greece hit the nail on the head. Unless you are Greek I warn you this is lame and a throw back to Greek movies of the 1950s. In a bad way.All the male actors are extremely unattractive looking lot with one exception in a minor role. Lead actress is easy on the eye with her short boyish haircut. Whether she can act or is just eye catching I can't tell you. Betsy Malfa is engaging, attractive as the unhappy wife Maria.After seeing the very stylish Greek comedy 180 Digress (reviewed elsewhere here) a week earlier I thought this one might be the same. Greek island,some scenery, Katerina Papoutsaki eye catching. The reality is this feels more like a play, the production values are out of the 1950s, it rarely gets out of comedy first gear, being clumsy and vulgar rather than funny. If I saw another scene where someone appeared through an open window I'd scream. My wife who does speak Greek told me the sub titles which were fairly colorful were much more colorful than the spoken dialog.The only worthwhile points of the film maybe, if the portrayals are accurate, are that Greek society is basically matriarchal, the strange dowry system they have to marry off what are portrayed in the film as overweight, unattractive daughters.The only other positive apart from this being 90 minutes I will never get back was the theater last night was full and the foyer after wards was alive. There were certainly no Greek women needing dowries at the Como last night. Motto here with these film festivals must be if you find a really good film, like 180 Degrees, be content with that. Go chasing a second one and chances are you'll end up with a dud like this.

Full Summary: A Greek scientist in the early 70's cloned the first human (Grigoris Kanias from Karditsa). His clone was Mike Kanias which lived in the US. One night during a cigarette stop and he is being robbed . Having lost 30 million dollars, mafia starts to hunts him down. In order to save his life he travels to Karditsa to change places with his clone. But Grigoris, a typical lazy guy with many love affairs tries to find a way to earn easy money. A sexy blonde with a big check is the perfect bate...Review: Dear Greek movie friends, do not even dare to see this movie. Unbelievable stupidity during the whole movie and a waste of time and money. Even if you see this movie in order to see Mrs. Papoutsaki naked, I have to inform you that she did not show much. The film has no plot, it is repeated the whole time and it is not worth watching. This "great" acting is continued during the whole film. You can only hear everybody swearing, cursing and insulting each other in order to create comedy acts. If we had "Rotten Tomatoes" or "Razzies" awards in Greece I am sure this film would be the winner! Films like this make us feel nostalgic for old Greek movies. Cheap with lack of humor, that would be my description in 5 words. Another Greek mediocre film, with lack in scenario and originality. Not even Mrs. Papoutsaki can save this film with the nude scenes, this is just a proof that she is a bad actor.

This film along with "Νήσος"/"Island" are the main cards for Greek commercial comedy this season. They contain both actors and lifestyle celebrities/models and target the mainstream public, while they include some edges for the more sophisticated.In this film which takes place in New York and a village in the vicinity of Karditsa, a provincial town of central Greece- the two main characters, whose appearance is identical, seek their private professional and sentimental goals while their fates intersect.Chance, sentimental complications,issues of locality and class, organized crime and modern science are blended in a merry-go-round satire of modern "Greek" reality which touches lightheartedly many not so light in themselves issues and resolves in a conciliatory happy end.If only those quandaries could be solved that easily in real life! The actors, TV and film actors of the national star-system support their flat and sometimes caricatured roles with ability. There is a combination of trash magazine culture and bucolic romance in the movie which may sound contradictory by definition but works well in practice.