Matt and Heather are two Americans set to be married in Italy. However, at the last moment, just before he ceremony begins, Heather disappears. Matt searches for her and discovers a note explaining to him why she couldn’t go forth with their wedding. Although, he’s heart broken Matt decides that optimism is the best way forward. He believes that somehow Heather will return and they will be married, So instead of taking he next plane back to the United States, he waits, for his luck to improve and for his fiancee to return.
Which is how he ends up going solo on a meticulously planned, Italian package tour. Everyone is coupled up and recently wed, but Matt is doing his best to enjoy a country he has never visited and where he speaks but a few words of Italian. He’s trying to stay hopeful, despite everything. Two other couples sort of adopt sad-sack Matt when they discover what happened to him. They offer him much in the way of advice and basically examples of what not to do when one gets married.
SOLO MIO bills itself as a romantic comedy and it is both, but it doesn’t exactly fit the expected formula of that genre. We expect Rom-Coms to be the story of two people getting together and the obstacles they have to go through to make that happen, However, the switch around of the wedding that doesn’t happen means that we don’t know fully what to expect for Matt or the journey he will take.
We do know Kevin James from his many years as Doug Heffernan in TV’s The King of Queens (1998-2007). He is playing a somewhat different character here. Matt is a an art teacher for fourth graders and is a thoughtful man who believed that he might never marry. He isn’t a flashy character and is not even particularly confident.
Matt’s personality is somewhat closed and the movie pushes a well-loved Hollywood idea that Old Europe somehow knows more about emotions and Amore, than modern, fast-moving America. iIt suggests that Matt needs some fixing beyond the marriage that-never-was. Matt is also in his ‘fifties and so we are in the territory of a Rom-Com that is aimed at an older audience. This isn’t about first-love and flouting family convention or going against what the parents want.
What is perhaps unexpected is that the film, in segments, is something of a “hangout movie” to use a Tarantino term. There are moments when we are hanging out with Matt and the other couples, where the plot is temporarily off to one side and the jokes are generated from some of the silly conversations had by these tipsy, vacationing Americans
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Kevin James puts is a solid performance as Matt. Compared to his television work, he is trying for a more emotional character rather than someone who needs to generate a punchline every twenty-seconds. At base level he is an adult character rather than the man-child we are used to. There is a clear attempt to move James a couple of steps away from the roles we are familiar with, even the choice for Matt to be a man who shaves himself bald and has a well-trimmed beard, is part of this. We are witnessing a gear change for the Kevin James brand.
The other actors ably support James’s work. The character of Julian is played by Kim Coates and he is the most potentially unwound of the group. He continually needs to insert himself in other peoples business and his opinionated rants provide some of the bigger comedic moments.
Italian actor Nicole Grimaudo plays Gia the proprietor of a cafe where the various married couples visit. The character is has some we-understand-amore-in-a-way-you-Americans-don’t, going on. Yet, Grimaudo’s Gia comes across as the most well-rounded character of the piece. Yes she has to carry the familiar romance movie trope, i.e. the female half of a potential couple carries more of the love vibes and understands the heart better than the male character. Nonetheless, Grimaudo handles all of this with skill and nuance.
If you enjoy established actors playing older folks going to Europe to find themselves and love, then this could be your movie. In some ways it’s like a blokier version of BOOK CLUB:THE NEXT CHAPTER (2022). This may have something to do with it being the work of Kevin James and the movie collective known as The Kinnane Brothers, seven siblings and one in-law from Rhode Island. Charles and Daniel Kinnane directed the movie, which was written by John Kinnane and Patrick Kinnane and Kevin James. Peter Kinnane edited the film and the remaining siblings (and in-law) produced it.
SOLO MIO is in some ways a slight work. However it is fun and entertaining. Kevin James fans will enjoy seeing him go into different territory.
7/10
