We have to speak about Kevin James. He’s certainly one of numerous performers whose creative persona acquired outlined by their earliest roles, so it doesn’t matter what he does, now and probably without end, he’s slightly caught. He may very well be the perfect King Lear in Broadway historical past however to the common moviegoer, he’ll all the time be the reply to that age-old query: “Who Blarted?”
However right here’s the factor: Kevin James Blarted, and in his protection, he Blarted onerous. I’m not kidding. Have you ever ever really watched “Paul Blart: Mall Cop?” It’s a one-joke premise a couple of large man with hypoglycemia who takes his shopping center safety job too severely, till in the future he has to show himself by preventing unhealthy guys “Die Onerous”-style. However James doesn’t play it that means. He gave Paul Blart hope, heartache and dignity. He didn’t need to. The target market would have been effective if this hero with a cartoon title acted like a cartoon.
However Kevin James searches for the humanity in nearly all of his characters, even when materials doesn’t all the time demand it. And he continuously succeeds. His films are hit-and-miss — don’t get me began on “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2,” no person Blarted on that one — however he typically makes stable comedies, particularly when he’s co-writing them.
“Solely Mine” is one other Kevin James comedy, and it’s one you may take severely. There’s no goofiness right here. No low cost gags. There’s a soul at its core. That’s as a result of “Solo Mio” is an old school romantic comedy, and it’s a great one. Kevin James has certainly Blarted as soon as once more, as a result of he discovered the guts inside what may have been a hacky method product, and made the movie higher simply by displaying up — and in addition by co-writing the screenplay.
James stars as Matt, a grade faculty artwork instructor who asks his girlfriend to marry him in Rome. However whereas he’s ready on the altar, he simply retains ready. Administrators Chuck and Dan Kinnane, whose brothers Patrick and John co-wrote the script, let the digital camera linger on James a very long time, whereas his goals are regularly, quietly crushed. Now he’s caught in Rome with an costly honeymoon trip bundle that may’t be refunded, so if he’s going to be unhappy, he may as properly be unhappy and tour the town on the identical time.
The opposite {couples} in Matt’s trip group are keen to assist out, not as a result of they pity him, however as a result of they’re genuinely good individuals. Kim Coates and Alyson Hannigan play a pair who already acquired divorced and remarried twice, and Jonathan Roumie and Julee Cerda play a pair who met in remedy, again when he was her consumer. So all of them have relationship issues, however they’re all working by them, they usually’re keen to spend a part of their very own honeymoons to assist this candy, unhappy man work by his personal points.
Matt meets an area espresso store proprietor named Gia, they usually hit it off rapidly. Nearly too rapidly. It’s so much for Matt to course of however with slightly help he begins to fall in love once more and understand the place he went unsuitable the primary time. Gia is performed by Nicole Grimaudo, an actor who has been working for many years in Europe however is comparatively unknown in Hollywood. It’s a breakout function and if there’s any justice we’ll see much more of her. Then once more I’ve been watching the information and there doesn’t appear to be quite a lot of justice currently, so let’s simply hope for the perfect. She’s brilliant and humorous and has fantastic romantic chemistry with Kevin James, who anchors this movie along with his personal heat, approachable melancholy.
Components of “Solo Mio” are contrived. This isn’t a bug, it’s a function. The rom-com method calls for that these characters journey to engaging locales, meet uncommon individuals, and have melodramatic misunderstandings. The distinction between “Solo Mio” and lots of different inferior rom-coms is that this movie makes use of that method to bolster a candy, humane story about therapeutic the human coronary heart. In the meantime, too many different rom-coms act just like the method does all of the work by itself. The construction is only a skeleton, and a skeleton could also be sturdy however it might probably’t keep alive all by itself. It wants extra.
“Solo Mio” has extra. Much more. If something it’s acquired a staggering quantity of coronary heart. It’s the newest Kevin James movie that didn’t must go this tough, however thank goodness it did, as a result of it’s a stunning piece of labor. The ensemble forged amuses, however they’re not strolling punchlines. They’re attention-grabbing characters who contribute to the central story, and but they’re simply not fascinating sufficient that we’d relatively observe their tales as a substitute. The movie is humorous however, except for a pair gags the place Kevin James rides a tandem bicycle all by his lonesome, it attracts humor from the characters and their selections, not from synthetic, hammy set-ups.
Kevin James, a cheerful ensemble forged and a workforce of sturdy filmmakers have efficiently elevated this materials, not simply to a Blartform, however to an precise artwork kind. No person’s anticipating “Solo Mio” to be a timeless traditional, clearly, however I believe will probably be fondly remembered by any romantic comedy followers who give it a shot. It’s a stunning little gem, and it sparkles.
