Nightbus review

Italian gangsters may be a dime a dozen on screen, but that doesn’t stop director Davide Marengo from cramming this crime jaunt with ’em. A bunch of heavies scrabble to find a priceless microchip that ends up with unwitting small-time crook/man-eater Leila (sparky Giovanna Mezzogiorno) after she seduces and robs a club owner. Fleeing, she dupes nightbus driver Franz (Valerio Mastandrea) – himself in hot water over a debt – into helping her. The frothy laughs of their liaison never quite gel with the darkly lit, steely underworld backdrop. It might be cluttered and a little stale, but quirkily nuanced turns stop it going off-route entirely.