Rose Island: as the original title suggests, the story told by Sydney Sibilia seems too out there to be true, but it actually is (or, at least its basic aspects are). The film embraces the somewhat fanciful and farcical nature of the story, the idea of creating a new country pretty much out of thin air. The curious plot, however, doesn’t leave much space for character development or exploration; even the protagonist, dreamer and bumbling as he is, feels a bit flat. The performances are fine but far from memorable, as the lack of character depth doesn’t allow for much space; Elio Germano does what he can with the protagonist, and he finds a good key to play him on. The film is reasonably well-made and keeps a snappy pace, but much like the acting, it has nothing to write home about. It does, in any case, have a nice song selection.