Love In The Villa Review - A Silly Netflix Rom-Com
A developing quarrel, a charming city, and a theme of rivals becoming lovers. These are traditional components of a romantic comedy, which viewers adore and occasionally detest. "L'amore trova una via" or "love finds a way" occurs in Mark Steven Johnson's newest film when a booking error forces two strangers to share a villa in Verona, Italy, the city of love. Like other rom-coms, love in the Villa borrows recognisable aspects, such as two attractive leads, great chemistry, and an enjoyable journey of love for an unexpected couple. love in the Villa has the proper balance of humour and romance, especially when the plot gets implausible, even though it doesn't break any genre data-borders.
Third-grade teacher Julie (Kat Graham), who is organised and romantic at heart, has spent a long time planning a trip to Verona, Italy, with her partner of four years, brandon (Raymond Ablack). After a sudden split, Julie makes the decision to travel alone to the city of love, yet eager to experience everything on her plan. Julie's plans don't turn out as she had hoped. Her suitcase is misplaced at the airport after her tumultuous travel to Italy. Even worse, Julie discovers that Charlie, who is lovely but pessimistic, has already moved into the villa she had reserved (Tom Hopper). Julie will not only have to put up with the pessimistic british stranger living in the villa, but she will also have to put up with a protracted game of roommate wars.
Although it's absurd to demand even a smidgen of reality from a romantic comedy, love in the Villa is the kind of movie that kind of demands it. Unfortunately, Johnson's film takes too many absurd turns for the audience to completely appreciate everything it has to offer. For instance, within the first fifteen minutes, Julie gets into a car with a complete stranger (and an unreliable ride-sharing service) and then promenades through Verona's streets without securing her suitcase. One of the major fundamental issues with the script is that these aren't experiences of a solitary female traveller. There isn't a true portrayal of a woman's viewpoint, and the narrative would have benefited greatly from one.
Love in the Villa is a pleasant rom-com that is capable of amusing and providing its viewers with the ideal amount of romance. It has all the proper clichés and just the right amount of cheesiness that a narrative like this needs. It captures the truth that being a hopeless romantic is perfectly acceptable even though it doesn't emphasise the value of individualism outside of a relationship. Although love in the Villa is fundamentally a foolish romantic comedy, Graham and Hopper's magnetic chemistry makes it worthwhile to embrace its absurdity and unrealistic moments for them alone.