This is an intelligent and well-crafted film with fine acting, a sharp script, at times humorous with some surprises along the way, and ably directed by Maria Sole Tognazzi. I thought the characters were well developed and believable, as well as the movie being beautifully shot via its cinematography.

Margherita Buy is superb as Irene Lorenzi, employed by a publication as a mystery guest, where she travels the globe examining luxury hotels to see if their standards are up to a 5-star rating. She's very thorough and conscientious in her job, but begins to realize that years are passing, and that she remains quite lonely.

Irene is unmarried and has no children, and except for her best friend Andrea (Stefano Accorsi),with whom she had a relationship with some 15 years before, her sister Silvia (Fabrizia Sacchi),brother-in-law Tomasso (Gianmarco Tognazzi) and her two nieces, she has no intimacy with anyone else.

When a shocking event occurs at one of her hotel stays, she must really focus on re-evaluating her priorities and her life.

To me, this was an exceptional and enjoyable movie geared to adults, filled with fine performances, intelligence, humor, and surprises.

This simple story explain very well that we have one life to live as we choose, although sometimes we might doubt about our decision and we should be ready to revise them, as age advances.

This is our journey and we should not be influenced by conventions to choose a "normal" life. Besides, as shown in the film, there is nothing great in living the "normal" life, especially if you feel you are not cut out for it.

Irene chose to inspect luxury hotels for a living and travels most of the time. She could have a stable relationship, proved by the fact that she is very friendly with her ex and meets him regularly, but for the sake of the narrative, we must assume she cannot have it.

Her sister Silvia leads the "normal" life, married with a couple of kids. However, she does not seem ecstatically happy. In fact, she has all the "normal" problems of middle aged people: a boring marriage; growing kids; loosing her attractiveness, etc...

Irene suffers a panic attack following a fleeting connection with another guest at a luxury hotel. The false sense of security a luxury hotel may give is briefly debated, but my personal opinion is that it is still better to sleep in a 5 star hotel than under a bridge - so I am not a fan of the social commentary, but it is a sideline.

This is for me a simple tale about the meaning of life. One should understand that your life has the meaning you give to it and that there is no right or wrong. Good movie, anyway...

Greetings again from the darkness. Italian movie star Margherita Buy plays Irene, a luxury hotel inspector who travels the world testing picture frames for dust, bed covers for wrinkles, and hotel staff for smiles. Directed and co-written by Maria Sole Tognazzi, the film left me baffled as to why such a talented filmmaker presented such a dead-end trip for the viewer.

Within the first five minutes, we fully "get" Irene and we understand exactly where the movie is headed, provided it follows all overused story clichés (it does). See, Irene has things backwards. She lives in 5 star hotels and takes her brief respites with her nieces, her ex, and her sister. Most of us live with our families and vacation at resorts.

The luxury hotels are breathtaking to see, but mostly the movie drags while we wait for Irene's comeuppance. One segment of the story provides a spark of hope. Lesley Manville (recognizable from numerous Mike Leigh films) appears as a feminist author who lives life to the fullest and tosses out realities that strike a chord with Irene. Unfortunately, this plot line is short-lived and the most interesting character disappears as quickly as she arrived.

Irene is single, but maintains a very close relationship with her ex (a very good Stefano Accorsi). Irene has no kids, but periodically spends time with her young nieces. Irene has no close friends, but spends time with her family-centric sister (a very interesting Fabrizia Sacchi). She does all of this without actually committing to living a real life, as she quickly escapes on her next mystery guest mission.

The film begs for comparison to the superior Up in the Air, which allowed for secondary character development ... an element only teased in this film. Ms. Buy is very talented, but the script just makes this seem like a Luke warm room service meal. We already know that there is no comparison in a dream job versus a dream life.