Director: Donald Petrie
Cast:Â Hayden Christensen, Emma Roberts, Daniel Aiello, Andrea Martin, Adam Ferrara, Gary Basaraba
Rating: 15
Running time: 96 mins
About three decades ago, director Donald Petrie helped launch the careers of Julia Roberts and Lili Taylor in the heartwarming romantic comedy-drama MYSTIC PIZZA and he returns to a similar haven of sorts with the brand-new comedy LITTLE ITALY, which brings together Hayden Christensen and Roberts’ niece and established actress Emma.
Christensen and Roberts play childhood friends Leo and Nikki, whose families were at one point successful partners in a pizza business in New York’s Little Italy, but have fallen out over the years. The two have become rivals and have neighbouring restaurants next to each other. Nicky has gone off to London to train as a Michelin-starred chef under a female Gordon Ramsey-type, Corinne (Jane Seymour). However, her student visa has expired and in order for her to take her place as Head Chef at Corinne’s new Mayfair restaurant, she has to return to New York to get it updated.
Inevitably, the sparks begin to fly again in spite of the tense relationship between the two friends, Sal (Adam Ferrara) and Vince (Gary Basaraba). Complications are also compounded by the secret affair between their rival grandparents, Carlo (Danny Aiello) and Franca (Andrea Martin) and Nikki’s own conflicts between her roots and the ambition that remains in London….
LITTLE ITALY is at times a sentimental and heart-warming tale of community and family and has an attractive cast, which also includes CHARMED’s Alyssa Milano as Nikki’s mother, Dora. It’s a playfully lightweight affair, which doesn’t quite give the conflict between the two friends an energetically twisted edge when they are aiming for one-up-man-ship to try and put the others business out to pasture.
Christensen continues to eradicate his Anakin Skywalker persona which worked against him at times and plays Leo convincingly alongside Roberts as characterful and likeable Italian-American. It doesn’t quite hit the heights of MYSTIC PIZZA, but all that food on show in the restaurants will certainly have you reaching for the JustEat and Deliveroo apps before or after you watch the film, a similar feeling that was evoked when the Minnie Driver starring, Campbell Scott / Stanley Tucci co-directed film BIG NIGHT came out back in 1996.
Whilst not a bonafide classic, LITTLE ITALY will have much appeal to romantically-minded lovers who are looking for a mild diversion – with or without pizza to go – on a date night in.
LITTLE ITALY will be available to watch on UK digital download platforms from 11th March, 2019.
