‘Solo Mio’ Review: Kevin James Sparkles in Sweet, Old-Fashioned Rom-Com
We need to talk about Kevin James. He’s one of countless performers whose artistic persona got defined by their earliest roles, so no matter what he does, now and possibly forever, he’s a little stuck. He could be the best King Lear in Broadway history but to the average moviegoer, he will always be the answer to that age-old question: “Who Blarted?”
But here’s the thing: Kevin James Blarted, and in his defense, he Blarted hard. I’m not kidding. Have you ever actually watched “Paul Blart: Mall Cop?” It’s a one-joke premise about a big guy with hypoglycemia who takes his shopping mall security job too seriously, until one day he has to prove himself by fighting bad guys “Die Hard”-style. But James doesn’t play it that way. He gave Paul Blart hope, heartache and dignity. He didn’t have to. The target audience would have been fine if this hero with a cartoon name acted like a cartoon.
But Kevin James searches for the humanity in almost all of his characters, even if material doesn’t always demand it. And he frequently succeeds. His movies are hit-and-miss — don’t get me started on “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2,” nobody Blarted on that one — but he often makes solid comedies, especially when he’s co-writing them.
“Solo Mio” is another Kevin James comedy, and it’s one you can take seriously. There’s no goofiness here. No cheap gags. There’s a soul at its core. That’s because “Solo Mio” is an old-fashioned romantic comedy, and it’s a good one. Kevin James has indeed Blarted once again, because he found the heart inside what could have been a hacky formula product, and made the film better just by showing up — and also by co-writing the screenplay.
James stars as Matt, a grade school art teacher who asks his girlfriend to marry him in Rome. But while he’s waiting at the altar, he just keeps waiting. Directors Chuck and Dan Kinnane, whose brothers Patrick and John co-wrote the script, let the camera linger on James a long time, while his dreams are gradually, quietly crushed. Now he’s stuck in Rome with an expensive honeymoon vacation package that can’t be refunded, so if he’s going to be sad, he might as well be sad and tour the city at the same time.
The other couples in Matt’s vacation group are eager to help out, not because they pity him, but because they’re genuinely nice people. Kim Coates and Alyson Hannigan play a couple who already got divorced and remarried twice, and Jonathan Roumie and Julee Cerda play a couple who met in therapy, back when he was her client. So they all have relationship problems, but they’re all working through them, and they’re willing to spend part of their own honeymoons to help this sweet, sad man work through his own issues.
Matt meets a local coffee shop owner named Gia, and they hit it off quickly. Almost too quickly. It’s a lot for Matt to process but with a little assistance he starts to fall in love again and realize where he went wrong the first time. Gia is played by Nicole Grimaudo, an actor who has been working for decades in Europe but is relatively unknown in Hollywood. It’s a breakout role and if there’s any justice we’ll see a lot more of her. Then again I’ve been watching the news and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of justice lately, so let’s just hope for the best. She’s bright and funny and has wonderful romantic chemistry with Kevin James, who anchors this film with his own warm, approachable melancholy.
Parts of “Solo Mio” are contrived. This isn’t a bug, it’s a feature. The rom-com formula demands that these characters travel to attractive locales, meet unusual people, and have melodramatic misunderstandings. The difference between “Solo Mio” and many other inferior rom-coms is that this film uses that formula to bolster a sweet, humane story about healing the human heart. Meanwhile, too many other rom-coms act like the formula does all the work by itself. The structure is just a skeleton, and a skeleton may be sturdy but it can’t stay alive all by itself. It needs more.
“Solo Mio” has more. A lot more. If anything it’s got a staggering amount of heart. It’s the latest Kevin James film that didn’t need to go this hard, but thank goodness it did, because it’s a lovely piece of work. The ensemble cast amuses, but they’re not walking punchlines. They’re interesting characters who contribute to the central story, and yet they’re just not fascinating enough that we’d rather follow their tales instead. The film is funny but, aside from a couple gags where Kevin James rides a tandem bicycle all by his lonesome, it draws humor from the characters and their decisions, not from artificial, hammy set-ups.
Kevin James, a cheerful ensemble cast and a team of strong filmmakers have successfully elevated this material, not just to a Blartform, but to an actual art form. Nobody’s expecting “Solo Mio” to be a timeless classic, obviously, but I think it will be fondly remembered by any romantic comedy fans who give it a shot. It’s a lovely little gem, and it sparkles.
The post ‘Solo Mio’ Review: Kevin James Sparkles in Sweet, Old-Fashioned Rom-Com appeared first on TheWrap.