COMEDY; 1hr 30min (Italian with subtitles)
STARRING: Cristiano Caccamo, Salvatore Esposito
They do! Caccamo (left) and Esposito
Antonio and Paolo (Caccamo and Esposito) are engaged and elated, but wouldn’t you know it, there’s a catch. Antonio’s traditionalist parents, Roberto and Anna (Diego Abatantuono and Monica Guerritore), don’t know he’s gay, which is fine and dandy when he and Paola are hustling for acting gigs in urbane Berlin but a worry when they land in Antonio’s childhood Italian village to break the happy betrothal news. Also along for the journey home are the would-be newlyweds’ two housemates (speaking of worries): Benedetta (Diana Del Bufalo) is a rich flake while Donato (Dino Abbrescia) is a middle-aged, neurotic bus driver who has recently decided he’s transgender. Madre di Dio.
Roberto and Anna aren’t plain sailing, either: Mama is warm and inclusive (although bossy and imperious when she gets going), but Papa—a community pillar as village mayor—is anything but. Now the olds are at grievous odds, and with the help of an oversharing padre (Antonio Catania), the entire village is aware that Antonio and Roberto are gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, et cetera, nor with a cast of gabby Italians at full comedic throttle in an airy, expansive message movie where love really is all you need. There are no revolutionary moves afoot from director Alessandro Genovesi: the screenplay originated as a crowd-pleasing off-Broadway hit and it’s more than happy to stay that way. But with locations this dreamy and characters this endearing, there really doesn’t need to be.
