Love and Gelato movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Love and Gelato

This romantic comedy is now available exclusively on Netflix.

RATING: PG

LENGTH: 1 hour 50 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: C-

IN A NUTSHELL:

This rom-com is based on the cute book of the same name by Jenna Evans Welch. The screenplay was written and directed by Brandon Camp. The story is about Lina, who makes a promise to her dying mother that she’ll spend the summer before college in Rome, where her mom fell in love many years prior. Lina falls for the city, the people – and the “gelato”.

THINGS I LIKED:

I absolutely adore Italy, so much so that my husband and I remodeled our house to look like a Tuscan villa. Italy is magical and a European destination that should be on everyone’s Bucket List. I also love gelato, so just visiting Rome in the movie was the best part of the film, in my opinion.
The cast includes faces I’ve never seen before: Susanna Skaggs, Saul Nanni, Tobia De Angelis, Owen McDonnell, Anjelika Washington, and Valentina Lodovini.
I just wanted to eat some really authentic Italian food after watching this. Man, I love Italy.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

I’m always up for a romantic comedy, so I was disappointed that this one wasn’t quite up to par. The lead actress is more annoying than charming but that’s mostly because of the script. She’s young and has potential though! She gave me an Ann Hathaway vibe.
The script and acting were pretty weak and predictable.
I didn’t feel any chemistry between any of the characters. They all looked like actors acting their parts. The connections felt very forced.
I haven’t read the book, but I hear that this adaption is not very similar and far less charming.
We have absolutely seen this story done before a million times over before and better.
Apparently, all you have to do is take off your glasses to be more beautiful.
Self-care and “finding yourself” are important, but more and more, I’m seeing the theme of “I choose me” coming out of movies lately. What happened to the themes of self-sacrifice, duty, responsibility, and caring for others? The “I’m the only who matters” philosophy creates a very narcissistic society. I once heard someone say that people waste a lot of time trying to “find” themselves when, instead, they should focus on “creating” the person they want to be. I really like that sentiment.
It’s super easy to just run off to Europe if you happen to know rich people who will feed, clothe, and house you. Sometimes, movies like this really set up unrealistic expectations for young people who want to duplicate what they see on the Big Screen, you know? I spent most of the time rolling my eyes.