Solo Mio

Hollywood has produced many romantic comedies--too numerous to list, but suffice it to say, they are typically fraught with an uninteresting premise and all written in a banal way that tests ones' patience to make it until the end. Some have been anywhere from OK to interesting, however those are not typical. Well, with "Solo Mio" what makes this film is Kevin Japresence mes' affable, yet somewhat depressed after being jilted at the alter. What could go wrong after this?

A wedding disaster leaves the groom, Matt Taylor (Kevin James) stranded in Rome, heartbroken in the world's happiest city. But with one determined local, Gia (Nicole Grimaudo)--and a few meddling vacation couples, including Neil (Jonathan Roumie), Julian (Kim Coates), Meghan (Alyson Hannigan) and Donna (Julee Cerda)--in his corner, his ruined honeymoon becomes an adventure he never expected. It's amazing how sometimes heartbreak can be just the first chapter of a better story. 

Others to round out the cast are Julie Ann Emery as Heather, Caterina Silva as Claudia, Alessandro Carbonara as Marcello, Andrea Bocelli as himself, Virginia Bocelli as herself and Veronica Bocelli as herself.

This film was directed with compassion and heart by Charles Kinnane ("The Human Experience" '08, "Saving Bill Murray" '18, "The Good Thief" '20, "8 Beats Anthology Vol. 1" '22, "Syndrome K" '22,"Water Brother" '24) plus TV and shorts and Daniel Kinnane ("Saving Bill Murray" '18, "Home Team" '22, "Water Brother" '24) plus TV and shorts. These brothers have been a creative team certainly since 2018 and, at that point have directed all their films together and that usually makes for tighter staging and pacing as with movie--the feel of the film seemed real and the characters well thought out. It was effectively written by Charles Kinnane ("Saving Bill Murray" '18) plus shorts, Daniel Kinnane ("Saving Bill Murray" '18) plus TV and shorts and Kevin James "Paul Bart: Mall Cop" '09, "Zookeeper" '11, "Here Comes the Boom" '12, "Paul Bart: Mall Cop 2" '15) plus TV. None of these writers have a tremendous amount of experience, but with the two brothers as a creative team and James having the lion's share of the feature film writing experience, the combo was able to pull this off. It did have a tendency to meander and jump around to a degree, but then, after about a third of the film completed, it started to find the film they were looking for. Couple this with a bit of a twist near film's end, and it became rather entertaining. 

Certainly if you are a Kevin James fan, you'll be right at home with this. And if he's not enough, the stunning locales of Rome and surrounding areas will be captivating. Will there be a sequel? Like I've mentioned prior--if this makes a truck load of money, Hollywood will jump on that box office wagon and go for it,

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                            Rated: PG                                      97mins.