Overview
A father's relentless pursuit to secure his son's future leads to unexpected chaos and moral dilemmas.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- darkly comic
- sardonic
- tragic
- arthouse film night
- italian cinema retrospective
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Giovanni's mundane bureaucratic aspirations and comic self-importance are progressively overwhelmed by violence, grief, and revenge.
Giovanni relies on his government position, workplace connections, and freemasonry to secure Mario's future.
After catastrophe strikes his family, Giovanni abandons ordinary respectability for a retaliatory pursuit outside lawful justice.
Giovanni's relentless effort to place Mario in a secure government job establishes the family stakes before the plot's violent upheaval.
Films like An Average Little Man, and why
The Working Class Goes to Heaven
shares Italian social satire, tragicomic tone, and an ordinary protagonist transformed by institutional violence and personal loss
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
shares blackly comic social observation, moral disintegration, and a middle-class man drawn into revenge
The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man
shares Italian comedy drama, bleak satire of bureaucracy, and escalating personal catastrophe
Movie Details
- Director
- Mario Monicelli
- Release Date
- 1977-03-17
- Runtime
- 122 min
- Rating
- 7.9 / 10 (258)
Cast
- Alberto Sordi
- Shelley Winters
- Vincenzo Crocitti
- Romolo Valli
- Paolo Paoloni
- Renato Malavasi
- Renzo Carboni
- Enrico Beruschi
- Renato Scarpa
- Francesco D'Adda
Common questions
- What is An Average Little Man about?
- A petty government accountant’s devotion to family curdles into a bleakly comic campaign of personal revenge.
- What is An Average Little Man like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of An Average Little Man as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is An Average Little Man violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in An Average Little Man as graphic.
- Which films are like An Average Little Man?
- Films with a similar feel include The Working Class Goes to Heaven, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, and The Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man.
- How long is An Average Little Man?
- An Average Little Man runs 122 minutes.
