Love at the Villa, a Netflix confection, references the typical rom-com structure. Two people who are at odds, with deceit or revelation, alongside a running gag which is also repeated.
Love in the Villa, written and produced by Mark Steven Johnson, that has produced a film that is pleasant to watch but is easily forgotten. As cliched a romantic setting as it gets, Verona serves as the meeting place for the main couple, played by Kat Graham of The Vampire Diaries and Tom Hopper of Umbrella Academy. The Setting is beautiful and seems right for this rom-com.
Julie, as expected, is a hopeless overachieving romantic turned up to eleven. She dreams of witnessing Juliet's balcony in Verona, laminates her travel itinerary, and reserves 7% of her vacation time for "spontaneity." Julie goes on her own after her four-year relationship with Brandon (Raymond Ablack), who oddly seems astonished by her neuroticism, ends the night before their vacation in Verona. She experiences a terrible journey, misplaced luggage, and a wild cab driver who almost causes a collision while distributing his mother's cannoli from the front seat.
Worst of all, when Julie enters her private villa, she discovers a tall, shirtless, extremely fit British man enjoying red wine. The villa had unintentionally been double-booked. To Julie's dismay, Charlie, a wine importer, insists that she stay in "la villa romantica" for Vinitaly. The ludicrous battle for the villa thus begins, and it never succeeds in persuading anyone that these two incredibly handsome individuals can't bear one another. Julie is stubborn and loves to argue. Charlie is arrogant and distant; he tells Julie to put her emotions in a box.
The leads' engaging performances are a result of their willingness to play. They manage to captivate the audience enough to endure multiple needless delays to the inevitable. Really, this film could be a lot shorter, yet we have to endure almost 2 hours of this back-and-forth storyline.
Particularly Graham gives Julie an unexpected blend of healthy midwestern sweetness (she's from Minnesota) and fierce competition. Julie, a typical type-A romcom heroine, deviates from the cliché of the overly ambitious girlboss. She is content to teach elementary school and inspire young children to develop a love of reading, which she correctly views as a rewarding vocation.
The modest spell is broken by their old love interests (Charlie's is portrayed by Hopper's real-life wife, Laura), however, as with any travel-related love affair. The absurdity of their ignorance of Charlie and Julie's connection dissipates any lingering tension. There are various references to Romeo and Juliet, to try and make this film romantic. Instead, the film should just indulge in its corniness.
In the Villa, love is genuine and non-forced. You may get a scent of romance here and there. However, nothing ever rises to the level of being unwatchable. The movie serves as a successful mass-market advertisement for Italian travel. With rose-gold sunlight on terracotta roofs, fresh vegetables, and two seconds of Venchi promotional material.
Overall, this film is very watchable and it seems the actors had a great time making it. Visually, it looks amazing, it's just a shame that there is nothing really that special about the film. You will likely forget about it within a week, but it's an easy film to watch on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
Performance | 3.3/5 |
Enjoyment | 3.1/5 |
Overall Rating | 3.2/5 |