The Wrong Picture

Four unrelated but intercut stories are presented, each incorporating the mysticism of the Eternal City. In story 1, Hayley, a New Yorker, is vacationing in Rome for the summer. She meets native Roman, Michelangelo, a leftist lawyer, the two who fall in love and plan to get married at the end of the summer. Her parents, Jerry and Phyllis, a retired avant garde opera director and a therapist respectively, fly into Rome to meet Michelangelo and his family. Jerry hates the thought of Michelangelo's leftist ideals and goes into meeting him and his family with some disdain. However, Jerry, who equates retirement with death (according to therapist Phyllis), sees his new in-laws differently not so much when he meets Michelangelo's undertaker father, Giancarlo, but hears Giancarlo sing, he a great operatic tenor according to Jerry. However, Giancarlo, who has always quietly dreamed of singing professionally, has a singing crutch which Jerry will have to incorporate in any professional opportunity he provides for Giancarlo. In story 2, Antonio and Milly, innocent newlyweds from the provinces, have just arrived in the city for the first time to meet Antonio's influential relatives who have offered him a job. Out of circumstance, Milly gets lost in Rome on her own - she eventually stumbling onto a movie set where she meets her idol Luca Salta - leading to her missing the important lunch meeting with Antonio's relatives. So Antonio ends up enlisting the aid of Anna, a seductive prostitute, to pose as Milly in front of his relatives. Antonio and Milly's respective doings that day affect the marriage and their future. In story 3, John Foy, an American architect now most famous for designing shopping centers, is visiting Rome for the first time in thirty years, the city where he lived as a student. As he leaves his wife Carol and their friends to act the tourists, John decides to visit his old haunts, where he meets Jack, literally him thirty years ago: a young American architecture student who lives in John's old apartment building. Jack and his girlfriend Sally, also a student, are at the last minute expecting a visit from Sally's best friend, Monica, an actress who needs time to commiserate over a recent break-up. As the sexual tension builds between Jack and Monica, John acts as their spirit guide, he who not only predicted issues because of Monica's visit, but whose objective advice is more often than not ignored by all the parties involved. And in story 4, Leopoldo leads an undistinguished life as husband and father, with the highlight of his and his male coworkers' day being to watch their boss' seductive secretary Serafina parade around the office. Without explanation, Leopoldo's life is turned upside down as he is thrust into fame and celebrity, where he is constantly followed by paparazzo and reporters, who want to document his every move. Despite some perks, he largely sees this celebrity as an imposition on what was his quiet life. He may view it differently if it all goes away.