"EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: *1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars) STARRING Jay Jablonski as JAKE BIANSKI Cerina Vincent as MARISA COSTA John Kapelos as STEVE BOTTINO John Enos III as GIANLUCA TEMPESTI Marisa Petroro as ISABELLA Rated R Studio: Lionsgate Directed by: Jason Todd Ipson Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Jake (Jay Jablonski) is a self-made man who owns a fish market in Boston. However, he’s still pining for the girlfriend who broke up with him eight years ago. Jake’s friends desperately want him to meet a nice girl, and when he meets a pretty girl named Marisa (Cerina Vincent) outside the market one day, it looks like this might be his chance. Unbeknownst to either Jake or Marisa, neither is Italian but they think the other is, which leads both to pretend they are. Jake soon starts an uncomfortable courtship with Marisa as he still longs for his old girlfriend. But eventually, Jake sees Marisa as a potential soulmate.
WHAT I LIKED
I wanted to like this movie. I desperately wanted to like this movie. However, there wasn’t much to enjoy in its mean-spirited delivery. I thought Cerina Vincent did a fine job, and it’s a shame she doesn’t get more work in Hollywood these days. She’s a beautiful woman, and she can hold her own in the acting department. Her character was decent, but the rest of the film was brought down by the character of Jake.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
It’s clear that this movie was trying to go for a more testosterone-laden version of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” However, it completely missed the mark as to why “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” worked so much better. Instead of making a likeable main character, which we had in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” the filmmakers give us the egotistical, brash, rude and obnoxious character of Jake.
I suppose somewhere in the writing process, it was decided that a man stalking a woman for eight years after she has been married and mothered three kids would be funny. Sadly, it’s not. Nor is it funny for the main character to put down everyone around him because they don’t make as much money as he does, which is as unfunny as him insulting his date in this film.
The character of Marisa was likeable and empathetic, which made me root against the character of Jake. After all, a “happy ending” with them getting together meant that she ended up with a completely undeserving tool of a human being. I really hated this guy by the end of the film and found myself wishing that he would be hit by a bus... twice.
Here’s a shining example of how the quality of a film is dependent on the likeability of the main characters.
DVD FEATURES
The DVD comes with commentary by writer/director Jason Todd Ipson and editor Mike Saenz. Additional bonus features include deleted scenes, cast auditions intercut with their final scenes and a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the film.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
People who like to see a-holes get the girl.
