Screw Loose (1999)

Genres - Comedy  |   Sub-Genres - Comedy of Errors  |   Release Date - Feb 19, 1999 (USA - Unknown), Feb 19, 1999 (USA)  |   Run Time - 85 min.  |   Countries - Italy, United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Mark Deming

A man discovers honoring one of his father's last wishes isn't as easy as he hoped in this broad comedy. Middle-aged Bernardo Puccini (Ezio Greggio) helps to care for his elderly father in Milan. One day, Bernardo's dad, who is in poor health, makes a request - before he dies, he'd like to spend some time with his American friend Jake Gordon, whom he met during the war. Bernardo dutifully flies to the United States to track Jake down and bring him to Italy for a reunion. Bernardo manages to find Jake (Mel Brooks), but discovers he's currently a patient in a mental institution and not very stable. Not wanting to disappoint his father, Bernardo smuggles Jake out of the hospital to bring him back to Italy, but Barbara (Julie Condra), Jake's doctor, gets wind of his scheme and follows them to Milan to bring Jake back home. Screw Loose (aka Svitati) marked something of a reunion for star Mel Brooks, co-star and director Ezio Greggio, and screenwriter Rudy De Luca; Greggio made his American acting debut in Brooks' Dracula: Dead And Loving It, while De Luca wrote several films for Brooks, including High Anxiety and Life Stinks, and acted in Greggio's directorial debut, Il Silenzio dei Prosciutti.

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Keywords

army-buddy, deathbed-wish, doctor, instability, mental-institution, smuggling