Liam Neeson headlines this predictable though slightly warming family-focussed drama/comedy joining his real-life son Micheál Richardson for a movie that also marks the feature directing debut for actor turned filmmaker James D’Arcy. Set in the hills of glorious Tuscany, the film revolves around a father and son reconnecting after a devastating loss over a decade earlier.
The film kicks off in a swanky, though relatively small London art gallery, it manager Jack (Richardson) being ousted by his soon-to-be-ex-wife, Ruth (Yolanda Kettle), who owns the place. Luckily, Jack has a plan to buy the gallery from here, but in order to do that, he must head to Italy to sell his stake in a former family home. In order to do that, he must reconnect with his father Robert (Neeson), who he has struggled to be around since the death of his mother 15 years previous. Robert owns the other half of the Italian property, and agrees to travel to the place to see if they can sell it. Unfortunately said house, while rather grand, is in a sorry state of disrepair, neglected since Jack was last there when the family were a complete unit. Determined to flog the place, the two set about getting it up to scratch with the help of a couple of locals, including with that of a local restaurant owner Natalia (Valeria Bilello), who Jack takes an immediate shine to.
Made In Italy, which premieres on Amazon Prime Video, is one of those films where you could literally write out its plot from beginning to end before even seeing it. Imagine the Colin Firth strand of Love, Actually and expand upon up by adding a father-son element and you’re part of the way there.
Full of genre clichés, plot beats that’ll make you wince, and some really rather awful ‘comedic’ characters thrown in at various points to lighten proceedings, the movie could have been a complete disaster, however, the performances from Neeson and Richardson actually make this a really rather touching affair. The two characters have a common ground in grief; the loss of a mother and a wife which acts as a bubbling undercurrent throughout the movie, and as it the narrative navigates familiar plot tropes, the key to everything working is the relationship and the re-bonding of these two souls, and it actually manages to pull everything together in the final third.
D’Arcy’s direction is rather good, and it is a solid debut, and he, along with his DOP Mike Eley – who was cinematographer on The Dig – capture the vistas of a sun-kissed Tuscany beautifully.
Who wouldn’t want to be embraced by beautiful scenery in a distant foreign land, and a re-coming together of a family separated at this time? It’s far from perfect, but perhaps it is the harmless, sweet, warm hug of a movie we all need right now.
Made In Italy
Summary
Predictable, though entirely digestible – Made In Italy works not necessary because of the familiar genre tropes and clichéd characters, but because of the father/son performances from Neeson and Richardson, which is the true heart of the movie.
Made In Italy is streaming on Amazon Prime Video from 26th March.
