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Parents' Guide to

Love in the Villa

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

Predictable romantic comedy has some mild language.

Movie NR 2022 114 minutes
Love in the Villa Movie

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What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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What's the Story?

In LOVE IN THE VILLA, Julie (Kat Graham of The Vampire Diaries) is a hopeless romantic and fan of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. She finally takes her long-hoped-for trip to Verona, Italy, the setting for The Bard's play about the two fictional star-crossed lovers. It's a supposedly magical and romantic city, but her trip starts as a nightmare. Her luggage is lost. Her cab driver is reckless. La Villa Romantica, her rental, is double-booked, and Charlie Fletcher (Tom Hopper of Merlin and Game of Thrones), the British wine broker who rents it once a year, refuses to leave. They grudgingly share, with each creating boobytraps and unpleasant incentives designed to kick the other out. He gives her luggage away. She has him arrested. Their feelings change just as both of their problematic partners show up expecting to get married. How will their Italian getaway end?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

Everything about Love in the Villa is a second-rate copy of someone else's more well-executed plot idea. There are no surprises here and nothing original. Two people dislike each other and then fall in love. They treat each other badly until their feelings abruptly change. Each has an unsuitable significant other who just doesn't get them, and that, too, feels like a rip-off of other, better movies.

Hopper is deft with the few clever lines he's given. Graham has less practiced comic timing but gamely hangs in there with him. In the end, the two leads are charming enough to make the ending pleasing, however implausible. The score -- mostly old American pop songs sung in Italian -- is fun.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the idea that two people who deeply hate each other at first can ultimately fall in love. Do think that's possible? Why, or why not?

  • Since both behave so badly through most of the movie, what qualities do you think make them fall in love with each other?

  • Do you think destiny exists? Why, or why not?

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