Good direction,, let down by a bad performance - both by Franco

I have seen the movie in Venice.
The script works (no easy task), and the direction is competent - but Mr Franco the director let Mr Franco the actor kill the movie with a poor, over-the-top acting.
Too bad - under a different director he might have been able to control his performance (alrthough I have some doubts on this); with a different actor, he might have been to obtian a balanced movie, as all the other performers are good.
As it is, he was too involved to be able to judge his own performance, and the first third of the movie is unwatchable.