Too Much (1986) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A boastful Roman dreamer enters a fraudulent scheme that briefly exposes his kindness and leads to an incomplete emotional maturation.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

Rejected Dreams and a Dangerous Proposal

Oscar fails to enter an American science-fiction production and compensates by boasting about imaginary stunt experience. A confident lawyer persuades him to stage a crash for leverage against the foreign producer.

Key Events

• Rejected at Cinecittà — Oscar is rejected even as an extra for an American science-fiction production. Characters: Oscar Pettinari Location: Cinecittà
• Boasting About Stunts — Oscar boasts to bystanders about imaginary stunt work and past film jobs. Characters: Oscar Pettinari Location: Cinecittà
• Meeting the Lawyer — Oscar meets a whimsical lawyer whose confidence impresses him. Characters: Oscar Pettinari Location: Selci
• The Fake Crash Scheme — Oscar accepts a plan to stage a crash and pressure a foreign film producer. Characters: Oscar Pettinari Location: Selci

The Wrong Driver

The staged incident reveals that Nancy was driving the car. The production dismisses and abandons her, leaving Oscar and the lawyer to pressure an isolated actress.

Key Events

• Nancy Drives the Car — The staged incident reveals that Nancy, not the producer, was driving the car. Characters: Oscar Pettinari, Nancy Location: Road in Italy
• Nancy Is Dismissed — The production fires Nancy and abandons her to avoid a possible scandal. Characters: Nancy Location: Film production
• Pressure for Compensation — Oscar and the lawyer continue demanding money or damages from Nancy. Characters: Oscar Pettinari, Nancy Location: Italy
• Manufactured Medical Evidence — The lawyer arranges unnecessary surgery to create stronger evidence for the claim. Characters: Oscar Pettinari Location: Italy

Shelter and Complication

Oscar's kindness interrupts the blackmail scheme when he offers Nancy a home. Debt, incompatible lifestyles, and growing attraction make their relationship increasingly complicated.

Key Events

• Oscar Offers Shelter — Oscar's good nature leads him to offer Nancy hospitality at his home. Characters: Oscar Pettinari, Nancy Location: Oscar's home
• Debt for Nancy's Lifestyle — Oscar incurs debts while trying to keep up with Nancy's lavish lifestyle. Characters: Oscar Pettinari, Nancy Location: Rome
• Growing Mutual Understanding — Their shared time produces mutual understanding and possible romantic attraction. Characters: Oscar Pettinari, Nancy Location: Oscar's home
• Favorable Settlement Offered — A favorable settlement proposal arrives, but the lawyer urges Oscar to reject it. Characters: Oscar Pettinari Location: Italy

The False Lawyer Collapses

The lawyer rejects a favorable settlement and pushes the case toward court. His extravagant public speech ends with a collapse and apparent amnesia.

Key Events

• Case Sent Toward Court — The lawyer insists on pursuing the attempted scam in court instead of accepting settlement. Characters: Oscar Pettinari Location: Court proceedings
• Nationalistic Harangue — The lawyer gains attention through an exaggerated nationalistic speech. Characters: Oscar Pettinari Location: Public proceedings
• Lawyer Collapses — The lawyer faints during the speech, abruptly disrupting the public case. Characters: Oscar Pettinari Location: Public proceedings
• Unexpected Amnesia — After collapsing, the lawyer appears amnesiac and unaware of his surroundings. Characters: Oscar Pettinari Location: Public proceedings

Separate Roads

Oscar discovers that the lawyer is a recurring mythomaniac and abandons the failed enterprise. Nancy leaves for a new acting opportunity in the United States, while Oscar returns to his old routine.

Key Events

• The Lawyer's True Identity — Oscar learns that the supposed lawyer is a mythomaniac who repeatedly adopts professional identities. Characters: Oscar Pettinari Location: Italy
• Oscar Abandons the Scheme — Oscar tries unsuccessfully to recover the lawyer's promises before finally giving up on him. Characters: Oscar Pettinari Location: Italy
• Nancy Finds Another Chance — Nancy finds an opportunity to resume her serious acting career in the United States. Characters: Nancy Location: United States
• Nancy Leaves Oscar — Nancy leaves without hatred, while Oscar immediately feels her absence. Characters: Oscar Pettinari, Nancy Location: Italy
• Return to Cinecittà — Oscar returns to auditions and boasts of heroic stunt work, now imitating Indiana Jones. Characters: Oscar Pettinari Location: Cinecittà

Story Breakdown

• Oscar's Failed Ambition — Oscar wants recognition as an action-film stuntman but is rejected by the industry.
  • Cinecittà Rejection — Oscar is refused even an extra role in an American science-fiction production.
  • Heroic Boasting — He invents stories about previous stunt work to impress people around the studios.
• The Fraudulent Scheme — A confident lawyer turns Oscar's frustration into a plan for staging a crash and demanding compensation.
  • Lawyer's Proposal — Oscar accepts the suggestion to fake an accident involving a foreign producer.
  • Crash Staging — The planned incident becomes the basis for a threatened claim.
• Nancy's Abandonment — Nancy becomes the unintended target after the production protects itself from scandal.
  • Wrong Driver Revealed — Nancy, rather than the producer, is discovered to have been driving the car.
  • Production Dismissal — She is fired and left without money in an unfamiliar country.
• Unexpected Intimacy — Oscar's initial hostility gives way to hospitality, debt, and possible romantic feeling.
  • Home Hospitality — Oscar offers Nancy a place to stay despite the original blackmail attempt.
  • Mutual Attraction — Their shared time creates understanding and possible attraction.
• The Lawyer's Collapse — The fraudulent legal campaign becomes increasingly extreme before its supposed leader breaks down.
  • Rejected Settlement — The lawyer makes Oscar refuse a favorable settlement proposal.
  • Amnesiac Breakdown — After a nationalistic public speech, the lawyer faints and appears unaware of himself.
• Mythomania Exposed — Oscar discovers that the lawyer repeatedly adopts imaginary professional identities.
  • False Professional Identity — The supposed lawyer is revealed to have previously imagined himself as a dentist or veterinarian.
  • Oscar Gives Up — Oscar unsuccessfully tries to recover the lawyer's commitments and finally abandons him.
• Separate Futures — Nancy and Oscar leave the experience changed in different ways but return to separate paths.
  • Nancy's Acting Chance — Nancy finds an opportunity to continue pursuing serious acting in the United States.
  • Oscar's Old Routine — Oscar returns to Cinecittà auditions and resumes exaggerated stunt stories as an Indiana Jones copy-cat.

Directed by

Carlo Verdone

Key Cast

• Carlo Verdone — Oscar Pettinari
• Stella Hall — Nancy
• John Steiner — Mike Adams
• Sal Da Vinci — Capua
• Mario Brega — Sergio