Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

The Icicle Thief

Play trailer The Icicle Thief 1989 1h 24m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
80% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 64% Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
A cheeky satire of television and an ode to Italian neo-realist films, this playful movie features director Maurizio Nichetti playing himself. The filmmaker becomes distressed when one of his classic black-and-white movies airs on TV and is frequently interrupted by gaudy color commercials. As the film and the ads begin to overlap, and the movie's characters attempt to leave their tragic situations for consumer bliss, Nichetti enters the television world to try and sort things out.

Critics Reviews

View More
Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader 05/24/2022
[It] works out an arresting encounter between Italian neorealism and contemporary Eurotrash consumer culture. Go to Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 11/29/2022
The Icicle Thief, which starts out laughing at Italian Neorealism, ends up succumbing to surrealism. [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 07/04/2005
2/5
Rich Cline Shadows on the Wall 06/12/2004
4/5
Charming and inventive. Go to Full Review Carol Cling Las Vegas Review-Journal 08/22/2003
4/5
TV Guide 07/30/2003
4/5
Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More
09/22/2018 The B/W portion is gripping and draws you in. The Color segments are laugh-out-loud incredulous.Definitely worth a watch... See more 04/07/2013 very funny. and that catchy tune'd be such a cheery phone ringtone. 'bruno' and the baby girl were so cute, and brilliant too. See more Read all reviews
The Icicle Thief

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All

Maurizio Nichetti

Director

Maurizio Nichetti

Antonio Piermattei

Caterina Sylos Labini

Maria Piermattei

Federico Rizzo

Bruno Piermattei

Renato Scarpa

Don Italo

Ernesto Calindri

Self

More Like This

View All
Sidewalk Stories 79% 67% Sidewalk Stories Watchlist Stay Tuned 44% 56% Stay Tuned Watchlist Father of the Bride 71% 70% Father of the Bride Watchlist In the Soup 83% 76% In the Soup Watchlist Other People's Money 31% 47% Other People's Money Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

The Icicle Thief

The Icicle Thief (1989) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis A cheeky satire of television and an ode to Italian neo-realist films, this playful movie features director Maurizio Nichetti playing himself. The filmmaker becomes distressed when one of his classic black-and-white movies airs on TV and is frequently interrupted by gaudy color commercials. As the film and the ads begin to overlap, and the movie's characters attempt to leave their tragic situations for consumer bliss, Nichetti enters the television world to try and sort things out.
Director
Maurizio Nichetti
Screenwriter
Maurizio Nichetti, Mauro Monti
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
Italian
Runtime
1h 24m