As a Genovese, I found it pretty accurate

Every time a foreign production sets a movie in Italy, there's always a very high risk of ending up with a bunch of clichés which can really turn the view into an awful experience, for those who live in those places.

I'm from Genova and I love it, and I was kinda scared about what mess they could have done with this one...
But this movie in fact suprised me, because not only it drifted away from exaggerations about the place and its people (completely unnecessary for this story), but it actually set the action in a very realistic frame.
Almost all of what the characters do is what real people is actually doing every day.

The view from the plane is pretty much it, the local trains they're using to go the beach are the ones we're using, same for the young people in bars along the sea. The scene in which the little girl runs away is set in a (fantastic) place that is actually not reached by roads.
The central alleys are exactly like those (shady corners included), the urban beaches are actually there...
Even the house of the old man and how it's furnished.
Only some road sequencing is a bit messed up, but nothing terrible (like "Hey, that's supposed to be on the other side of the town"), and overall pretty realistic too. I'd say they made a better job than an average Italian production.

Side characters speak with a proper accent (and they're probably not even actors).

Overall I was very pleased with this no-fake approach to the city and its surroundings, and I think this "real life" context was a wise choice for framing this "real life" story.
I can see why many people found the movie boring, probably they are more used to the pure-fantasy approach of mainstream cinema. But I think the makers made a good job here. They told a fantasy story with the honest approach of a documentary.