The lead character travels to Italy, ends up restoring an old villa, and finds romance. Did you think I was talking about Under the Tuscan Sun? Nope, it’s Netflix’s new romantic comedy La Dolce Villa. The similarities are obvious. But the differences are, too, and while La Dolce Villa is a sweet and inoffensive viewing experience, there is also a bit of heft missing from the story to back up all the beautiful scenery.
Scott Foley plays Eric Field, a restaurant consultant who arrives in Italy with a mission. He is going to stop his daughter Olivia (Maia Reficco) from buying a run-down villa. Italy has a “one euro” program to encourage young people to settle in small towns, like Montezara, the place Olivia fell in love with. Violante Placido plays the town’s mayor, Francesca. She is a widow. And Eric is a widower. Do I need to say anything more about where this is going? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Eric and Olivia also work on their relationship, Olivia meets an attractive young local chef, and the ownership of the villa causes a tangle to sort out. You can probably guess how those things work out too.
And that’s the flaw of this film. Though La Dolce Villa boasts a setting to die for, the story itself is not fresh or interesting enough to distinguish itself among all the entertainment options out there. It is enjoyable enough for one viewing but lacks that hard-to-define rewatchable factor.
“We’ll confidently walk off a cliff before admitting we’re wrong.”
I’m aware that most of the audience will know Foley from Scandal, but to me, he will always be Noel, the guy Felicity should’ve ended up with on Felicity. (Yeah, I said it.) Seeing him also makes me miss Whiskey Cavalier. He is good at conveying low-key, harmless appeal. He brings that to his character here. Eric is established as an overprotective dad immediately. Then he helps a woman carry her baby carriage up the steps in the train station, and we know he’s supposed to be a good guy too. His concern about Olivia buying the villa feels like standard parental behavior. The anger Olivia expresses about this barely feels warranted, and the same goes for when he suggests she might flip the house and sell it.
That is an example of what this script needs to improve. The conflicts don’t create enough tension to sustain the plot. We assume Eric and Francesca will kiss and get together rather than the story compelling us to want them to. Their interaction is cute, and I certainly like when films acknowledge romance past a certain age, but the writing is very by the book. You could kind of set your watch by the formula here. Conversations about their late spouses? Check. Saying they need to “keep things professional” between them? Check. Bike ride and picnic? Check. They are both likable characters, and there is nothing wrong with this love story, exactly, it just isn’t very exciting.
“It feels like where I’m supposed to be.”
The good thing is that Eric and Francesca have a gorgeous Italian background for their romance. The golden sunshine gives everything a sheen you want to see up close, and you can practically smell the history in the old buildings they visit. Also, the film features a sequence near the end showing Olivia’s villa before and after the renovations. The “after” shots are truly stunning. I don’t know if this home actually exists but I want to live in those “after” images. The setting is the best thing about this film. Though it demonstrates how photogenic Italy is, it also plays into stereotypes about Italians being hot-blooded. Two of Olivia’s friends in Montezara are a passionate couple who break up and get back together all the time.
It’s that kind of lack of depth that occurs a bit too much here. Most of the time, the story is pleasant enough, though, if a bit predictable. (Like other Netflix romance films.) I’ll put it another way. It’s going to take more than this for me to emotionally invest in some man’s late-life second act. Even if he’s nice enough and conventionally good-looking. Details like the trio of grandmothers all named Antonia are amusing but I was waiting for a moment that really made me laugh hard, or swoon hard, and it didn’t really happen. I give romances a lot of latitude and I will almost never regret watching one. I am glad I watched La Dolce Villa. I just wish there was a bit more behind the glossy looks.
La Dolce Villa is streaming on Netflix.
