Little Italy - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Little Italy

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
I’ve always been saddened how Hayden Christensen fell out of the limelight. He got a HUGE boost to stardom thanks to playing grown up (at least physically) Anakin Skywalker in George Lucas’s Star Wars prequels, but soon fell off the map when he became typecast and shuffled off to cliched action films. The guy isn’t a horrible actor, but he couldn’t seem to gain his footing post Star Wars and literally vanished from acting for several years. Now that he’s resurfaced the man is relegated to lower grade films which don’t stretch the actor much, and his smirking/glowering schtick is wearing a bit thing. I was hoping for a return to magic as Little Italy sports a start studded cast of yesteryear, along with the talented Emma Roberts (Julia Roberts niece, daughter of Eric Roberts), and the director of Miss Congeniality (one of my favorite romantic comedies of all time). However, this one falls more along the lines of a How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, mixed with an Italian variation of My Big Fat Greek Restaurant (including one of the actresses).

Little Italy borrows from classic rom-com tropes, introducing us to our star crossed lovers early on in their childhood in Little Italy (based in Toronto this time). Young Leo Campo and his childhood friend Nikki Angioli are competitive at EVERYTHING. Soccer, football, lighting firecrackers under the dozing neighbor, but most of all, they’re a family. The Angiolis and the Campos have been friends for decades, with their parents co-owning an award winning pizzeria. That is until life happens and a huge argument (that no one other than the two fathers know what is about) tears the two apart. Now the Angiolis have their own pizza shop, while the Campos have theirs. Leo (now played by Hayden Christensen) has decided to stay and work at his pop’s shop, but young Nikki (Emma Roberts) has moved to England where she is studying to become a world class chef. However, fate conspires to bring her back to little Italy when her boss, Chef Corinne (Jane Seymour) requires Nikki to get a work visa instead of her student visa, which unfortunately means that she has to come back to Canada to work out the paperwork requirements.

Yup, everything is still the same in Little Italy, with the Campos and the Angiolis still at each other throats. A ruse that actually may not be as true as you might thing. You see, while Sal Angioli (Adam Ferrara) and Vince Campo (Gary Basaraba) are continuing on their inane feud, the mothers (Alyssa Milano and Linda Kash) continuing on their friendship, and even the two aging grandparents are dating under the table. The only people not involved in the insanity is Leo and Nikki. Which may end up to be their “undoing”, as Leo wants to go start his own shop with modern pizza techniques and changes, while Nikkie just wants OUT of the city. But when love is in the air a little bit of reality is just to be ignored.

Littly Italy is about as cliché and cheesy enough to give you heartburn. You already know from the get go what the ending is going to be, and it’s just the journey getting there. I have no problem with romantic comedies in general, but Little Italy very simply is uneven and kind of bizarre with its writing and pacing. There are moments where I really started liking the way the film was going, as it was sweet and charming. Then Director Donald Petrie interjects bizarre scenes that feel like they were pulled out of a three stooges comedy skit (there’s a scene with a female police officer that is just so insanely over the top I was left scratching my head wondering WHY that particular interaction was left in the movie). Then, when the going actually starts getting good with the grandparents and the young lovers, the movie jumps forward at a break neck pace, pushing about 40 minutes of romantic development into 15-20 minutes.

Now, the movie isn’t BAD, per se, but rather uneven and poorly paced. Emma Roberts is adorably cute as Nikki, and Hayden actually isn’t too shabby either. The rest of the cast really gives it a go, with only Jane Seymour as the female Gordon Ramsey standing out as being so over the top that you wince when seeing her scenes. Sadly most of this is script and direction, leaving the fun bits of the movie over shadowed by some seriously abysmal bits.




Rating:

Rated R for some sexual references




Video:

I couldn’t find out what type of cameras were used for the filming of Little Italy, nor what resolution master the film was struck at, but I would guess pretty accurately that this is a digitally shot movie of some sort, and the master is likely a 2K one (based upon the low budget requirements from the director himself). The 2.39:1 AVC encoded Blu-ray looks very nice, with a warm and inviting image that really looks very well detailed all around. There’s some softness to the overarching picture here and there, but overall the disc is very sharp and clean looking. Colors are bright and well saturated, with the red’s of the Pizzeria sauce popping off the screen, as well as soft golds of the Korma Sutra restaurant, or the deep black’s of Leo’s apartment. There’s some mild color banding in a few shots, but other than that, this is a well done encode that should please most people.





Audio:

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track on the disc is a satisfactory experience, but not much more than that due to the limited sound design of the movie. The film’s premise leads us to a very dialog heavy mix that really is VERY forward heavy if you listen to it. The surrounds are near dead silent for most of the run time, with a few quick bursts for the pop music score, or when the patrons of the pizzeria are dancing on tables (one of the film’s more painfully illogical gags), but otherwise 95% of the movie is in the front of the room. Said dialog is always well defined and cleanly replicated, with a decent front end that does well for a talky type of film. LFE is mild and restrained, adding a few booms and bumps to to the score, as well as accenting things like a motorized scooter’s rumble, or the thump of a door. The track itself may not be overly ambitious, but the encode is a solid encode nonetheless. It’s just not one that’s going to woo audiences.





Extras:

• Behind the Scenes of Little Italy Featuring Cast and Crew Interviews
• Trailer Gallery

Final Score: ​

I had decent hopes for Little Italy based off of the acting/directing pedigree, but the end result was a bit more disappointing. If you’re a die hard romantic comedy buff then you might get a bit more out of this, but this is NOT Petrie’s best work, and has quite a few missed opportunities. The film itself is rather fun at times, but those fun times are (as I said in the main portion of this review), “overshadowed”, by so many wince worthy moves. Lionsgate’s Blu-ray is a stable release, with satisfactory audio and good video, but extras are naturally a bit slim, and the film itself is really only rental quality. Not a bad watch if you are in it for some cheap fun, but buy it straight up? I’d pass.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Emma Roberts, Hayden Christensen, Alissa Milano, Danny Aiello, Andrea Martin, Adam Ferrara, Gary Basaraba, Linka Kash, Jane Seymour
Directed by: Donald Petrie
Written by: Steve Galluccio, Vinay Virmani
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Lionsgate
Rated: R
Runtime: 101 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: November 20th, 2018

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Moderate Rental