Since I saw "Der Himmel über Berlin" approximately 3 years ago I've become a valid Vim Venders fan. After that day, I always thought, Wim Wenders had something original to say. Palermo Shooting hasn't changed my verdict, well... Almost. The Thing about Palermo Shooting that I guess, this movie tells the well known story with different methods. The methods that little bit um, shall we say cheesy? Of course, this doesn't mean that it's not a enjoyable movie. It's very "warm" movie after all. But despite all this "warmness", you think in somewhere, something/things is/are missing in this movie. Still, it's worth to watching.

So let's sum up what this movie is about: a guy that "has a failed life"(it isn't really shown how his life is out of place they could at least made him a crack addict) that is not in touch with the world around him and goes to a small but charming(...not) Italian town and finds love, good food, old painting...and the meaning of life.So what can I say? Did I enjoy it? No. Will you enjoy it? Only if you have not seen more than 2 films in your life: one being The Princess Bride and the other being Space Jam. If so the film will strike you with it's dark images and "themes" and will leave you magnified by it's depth. Palermo Shooting was a real disaster for me so it's hard to chose where to start. The acting was pretty bad. Dennis Hopper was too lame in it. Let's not forget that this was the role that predated his performance in An American Carol so this is not exactly rock bottom. Mr. Campino (when I first heard his name I thought he was an Italian designer but now that I know that he is fronting a famous German rock band I know that he is really hip) reminds me of Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone but with cool tattoos and a nice camera. Milla Jovovich wanted to mix with THE art crowd so she decided to come and show her "magnificent belly". The others just are not worth mentioning. The story was cliché. It is a mix of The Seventh Seal, the Disney adaptation of A Christmas Carol and maybe something "wiered" like Eternal Sunshine... in the visuals(mostly the dream sequences). I watched it in a cinema and it was loud. When the film reached the point when the photographer meets the girl and she says she understands him I thought the movie will turn in to a Indiana Jones type of story and she will go on and tell him about the secret Palermo treasure guarded by the death. Such a shame it did not turn that way... The music is out of place and I must admit there are some hip tunes but they are not at all in tone with the movie.

In every serious artist's life there're great oscillations and changes. Years of great and masterful work are followed by long passages of creative drought and emptiness. But every artist who takes himself seriously one day must understand and face facts that his best years are over and it would be wise to drop the pencil and leave the field for a new, emerging generation.After seeing Wender's latest "work" at its premiere in Berlin last night I felt that everyone in the audience quietly shared the same thoughts about this flick:That this can hardly be called a film anymore - but is a preposterous, embarrassing, empty and painful blow to anyone who liked some of the better of Wender's works in the past. "Palermo Shooting" is a pseudo-surreal, pseudo-intellectual, pseudo-cinematic derangement, full of lame clichés, bad acting and dialog that only serves one cause:It holds proof to the sheer yet painful fact that Wenders' time as a serious filmmaker has long come.

This is probably one of the worst films I have screened in a very long time ! I was really looking forward to seeing Palermo Shooting, but what a disappointment. Beautiful cinematography, great music - but the plot and dialogs ? My goodness ! What was Wim Wenders thinking ? Such a waste of acting talent ! Especially the dialog - most lines were laughable they sounded so hollow ! We saw it in Cannes at the Grand Palais Lumiere where it premiered. So many people left before the end the end of the film, but fortunately all those who fell asleep during the projection kept the theater somewhat occupied. When the lights came back on there were enough bodies left for a polite show of support. What a shame though. Wim Wenders is capable of so much better than this mediocrity, we have seen it in the past. Not sure this film will ever be seen in a theater again and I believe that Palermo Shooting will be fleeting and quickly forgotten. For Wim's sake, I hope this is the case ...