Love & Gelato is a romantic comedy film about Lina Emerson, a pre-med student, who travels to Rome to fulfil her mother’s last wish, embarking on a journey of romance, friendship, and a new love for gelato. It is streaming on Netflix.
Story
Lina (Susanna Skaggs) goes to Italy to fulfil her mother Hadley’s last wish. Lina resides with Francesca (Valentina Lodovini) in Italy, who was also her mother’s closest friend and Howard Riley (Owen McDonnell), her mother’s friend and Francesca’s cousin.
Lina meets Alessandro Albani (Saul Nanni), the well-off son of a wealthy family and an ambitious chef, Lorenzo Ferrazza (Tobia De Angelis), who exposes her to the world of gelatos. With Alessandro, she experiences her first kiss and suffers a heartbreak.
She finds out about her father, goes to Florence to visit him, and also, meets Lorenzo, who is also travelling to Florence for an audition, on the train. While Lorenzo had a failed audition, Lina deals with her father’s rejection. Their emotions are at their peak when they kiss which she says was a mistake.
Performances
Lina, the main character is portrayed by Susanna Skaggs. She could have done a better job because this film lacked the main character’s charisma.
The supporting actors, including Valentina Lodovini, Saul Nanni, and Tobia De Angelis, who play Francesca, Alessandro, and Lorenzo, respectively, do a fantastic job in their parts.
Although Anjelika Washington’s performance as Addie is delightful to see, the character has very little screen time.
Owen McDonnell, who plays Howard Riley, is the actor whose performance is the most enjoyable. He is a perfect embodiment of his character’s loving and kind side and an appropriate fit for Howard’s persona as someone to search for when in need.
Positives
Director Brandon Camp makes terrific use of Rome as the story’s background, delivering some lovely visuals. In some aspects, the story is encouraging and upbeat and its cinematography is stunning.
The romantic comedy film does, however, occasionally offer sudden twists here and now from time to time.
The romantic element of the story enhances the film. Alessandro bringing Lina for a cliff dive and Lorenzo taking her for gelato are just a couple of the incredibly romantic sequences that highlight that angle.
Negatives
The characters are stereotyped, unclear and undeveloped. The main character of Lina shows to be nerdy and intelligent but at times really clumsy and messy in decision making.
The character of Alessandro keeps the viewers wondering what he is up to. The character of Addie has very little screen time and no background story other than being Lina’s best friend. The film tries to make the characters more vibrant and reflective, but it fails.
The narrative is clumsy yet designed to keep Lina’s romantic interest a secret and a mystery, although the title alone reveals the protagonist’s destination.
There aren’t many scenes in the movie where the audience may interact. The music does not fit the energy or tone of the scenes; therefore, the background score isn’t suitable.
With the movie adaptation, the charm of the novel has been lost because the story and setting are too dissimilar. The movie never takes a risk, doesn’t offer anything new, and doesn’t really go anywhere.
Verdict
Love & Gelato is a one-time watch for genre enthusiasts, and could appeal more to a young audience.
Rating 2.5/5
Also Read: Love & Gelato summary and ending explained