Bandini (Mantegna) is not taking care of his wife and three boys very well. They're behind in rent and running a tab at the grocery store. Bandini's best bet is betting, in poker games, although he doesn't do very well in that either.
A friend gets him a temporary job fixing the fireplace of a rich widow (Faye Dunaway) and her loneliness compels her to make moves on Bandini and eventually make an offer of marriage, which he refuses out of "honor." But stress in providing for his family brings him back to her. Although he remains faithful, he is tempted by the widow's wealthy lifestyle and beauty.
Meanwhile Bandini's wife (Ornella Muti) is trying to keep the boys in line: Arturo who doesn't take the church confessional seriously, August who has aspirations to become a man of religion and thus often admonishing what is a sin, and the innocent little Frederico.
Things become more stressful when Bandini stays even longer at the widow's, which Arturo, being the eldest, begins to understand is a problem, but his mother is naively hopeful for his quick return.
Many elements of the plot were too familiar and convenient. In addition, for someone of Italian heritage, Mantegna makes a very bad Italian accent. Dunaway's character gets too much time in the film, especially since it is told from the son's point of view who would not witness the time spent between her and his father.
Other people were stock characters only to serve a purpose for the story, rather than enriching the characters of the family and their relational dynamics. Bandini's mother-in-law, for instance, comes for a visit only to serve as a character to complain of his unworthiness and his family's stupidity for sticking with him (she does actually call the children stupid, nice grandma!) Her character isn't even shown to stay very long, as her tirade happens within seconds of her arrival and then she is seen no more.
Bandini and his wife also spend much of the film apart so her almost unconditional love of him was not believable. When she takes him back it's not even because he tried in any way to be contrite to her, or even feel any guilt for abandoning his kids.
It ends on an optimistic note as Bandini returns but of course doesn't get any punishment or consequences of his bad treatment of his family. All in all he is an "arrested development" kind of man, only looking out for himself, undeserving of the audience's sympathy. It's easy to assume this story was written by a man as the two major female characters serve Bandini in the way he needs--one offers sexual gratification and the other does everything else for him. Neither woman is a character in her own right. What was the point in making this story?
A minor character, the grocery store owner who ignores the wife as she practically begs for credit, was potentially interesting but he too only gets one scene and is pretty much unexplained.
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