Elio Petri, himself, stated that Good News resembles The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a soft-hearted fantasy from the forties. As the director of such films as A Citizen Above Suspicion and Todo Modo, you'd expect something a bit darker and that's what you get. Here, Giancarlo Giannini plays a media executive, leading a drab, average existence. One day, he bumps into an old classmate, Gualtiero, who is scared stiff from a threat on his life. Convinced the old chum is suffering from a persecution complex, he and Gualtiero's wife have him committed to an asylum. Interwoven with this questionable intrigue is an attempt by Giannini to break out of his humdrum life. This usually finds vent in unconsummated flings with office mates and "nympho" wives. The bad news about Good News is that it's all bad news. The urban landscape is bristling with rot, eros has lost its appeal, and everyone's life is swamped by triviality. Petri's black humor condemns the men to impotence and self-pity and the women to fend for themselves. If this is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, where is Danny Kaye?