Solo Mio (8/10)
by Tony Medley
96 Minutes.
PG
There have been a few romantic movies set in Italy. Two of them are among my favorites, Rome Adventure (1962) starring Suzanne Pleshette and Troy Donahue, and a remake, Letters to Juliet (2010) starring Amanda Seyfried and Gael Garcia Bernal. Both were love stories and highlighted terrific Italian scenery.
Now comes this one, which is not based on the theme of the preceding two. In this one, Matt (Kevin James) is head over heels in love with Heather (Julie Ann Emery), but she stands him up on the wedding day in Rome. Devastated, he tries to cancel all his Italian honeymoon reservations, to no avail. So he decides to take the honeymoon alone.
While traveling on a tour, he meets Julian (Kim Coates) and Neil (Jonathan Roumie), and they take it upon themselves to get him out of his doldrums. In a local restaurant he meets Gia (Nicole Grimaudo), who also helps him come out of himself, and he is placed in an awkward position as he thinks he still loves Heather, despite what she did to him, and Gia is clearly smitten.
Directed by Charles Kinnane and Daniel Kinnane from a script by James, John Kinnane, and Patrick Kinnane, this is a well-acted tale with a twist. The cinematography (Jared Fidel) and locations (Giancarlo Bartolomei) are gorgeous, worthy of a travelogue. While James and Grimaudo both give outstanding, believable performances, Emery, in a small role, is particularly effective.
You don’t see many movies rated PG these days, and this is a good one.
Tony Medley is an attorney, columnist, and MPAA-accredited film critic whose reviews and articles may be read in several newspapers and at rottentomatoes.com, CWEB.com, robinhoodnews.com, Movie Review Query Engine (mrqe.com), and at www.tonymedley.com. A former sports editor of the UCLA Daily Bruin, he is the author of four books, UCLA Basketball:The Real Story, Sweaty Palms: The Neglected Art of Being Interviewed, the first book ever written on the interview for the interviewee, having sold over a half million copies, and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Bridge, which has sold over 100,000 copies, and Learn to Play Bridge Like a Boss. He is an American Contract Bridge League RubyLife Master and an ACBL accredited director. He is a Mensa Life Member and a member of the International Society of Philosophic Research, ISPE (“The Thousand”).
#CWEB #SoloMio #TonyMedley #MovieReview @CWEB @TonyMedley
