[I review the rom-coms "Office Romance," "Jane Austen Wrecked My Life" and "La Dolce Villa."]
I know rom-coms can be formulaic and often silly, but sometimes there is nothing better to take your mind off of the trials of the world than some love stories you can count on, especially when they take place in romanic locations. And here are three good ones (well, maybe the office isn't romantic but Paris and Italy certainly are)!
Office Romance (2026)
Jackie Cruz (Jennifer Lopez) is the CEO and President of Air Cruz, a major airline company founded by her father. She runs a tight ship especially when it comes to office romances. But she never expected to meet Daniel Blanchflower (Brett Goldstein).
Jackie (Lopez) is under a lot of pressure from her company board and her demanding father (Edward James Olmos). She desperately wants her father's respect, so she is a no-nonsense manager who enforces a rigid, anti-fraternization policy. And so goes her personal life as well. It's no-nonsense, rigid and very isolated.
Enter reserved and very British Daniel Blanchflower (Goldstein), who is newly hired as the company's legal counsel and wouldn't you know? He is assigned a high-stakes litigation case that forces him to work closely with Jackie. Sparks fly and now Jackie has to deal with her own fraternization issues.
Well, you know where this is headed, right? Let the rom-com tropes begin! Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy and girl break up because there is some kind of misunderstanding or challenge that needs to be overcome. Boy and girl get back together.
Yes, those tropes are in play here to a certain extent, but what sets this rom-com apart from Hallmark and other lightweight love stories is the smart writing by Goldstein and writing partner, Joe Kelly, the smart direction of Ol Parker, interesting characters like Jackie's very pregnant assistant, Sydney (Betty Gilpin), who adds a fun comic element and almost steals the show, and the side plot about the family matter that has brought Daniel to America. It's not your usual rom-com, though it's got rom and it's got com.
J-Lo was made for rom-coms and writer/actor Brett Goldstein must agree with me. He wrote this movie for her. And this is the kind of movie I enjoy seeing her in. She is a beautiful, luminous woman who radiates warmth from the screen. I think she actually looks better now at 56 than she did when she first starred in "Selena." Who wouldn't fall in love with her? I did. I have been a big fan of hers from the start. But this is a bit of a departure for J-Lo, even in the rom-com genre. In her past rom-coms, she would usually start out needing to improve her life - think "Maid in Manhattan" or "Second Act." - but here she is already at the top as a CEO. She just needs a little romance and you know (whisper)...sex. And Goldstein makes a great leading man and foil for Jackie, though I had a hard time trying to forget him as Roy Kent on "Ted Lasso," with that colorful language of his. But here he is toned down, handsome, sensitive and very sexy and the two have great chemistry. And rumor has it that Goldstein and J-Lo have a real life romance. I want that to be true.
Rom-coms used to be everywhere in the "old days." Where are the new versions of "Sleepless in Seattle" and "You've Got Mail" when you are craving a romantic getaway? Rom-coms seem to have gone the way of the albatross in lieu of super heroes, sci fi and horror, but perhaps the success of this film will bring them back. We need those kinds of films when we are tired of super heroes, sci fi and horror and, yes, the sometimes horror of real life.
Rosy the Reviewer says...got my rom-com fix, and I have to say that this is one of the best rom-coms I have seen in a long time (Netflix).
A lonely Parisian bookseller yearns to be a writer but keeps not only messing that up but her love life as well.
Agathe (Camille Rutherford) is a French bookseller who works at the famous bookstore Shakespeare and Company in Paris and aspires to be a writer. She lives with her sister and her sister's young son and cycles everywhere, as she is too anxious to ride in cars anymore since her parents were killed in a car accident in which she was injured. Agathe is a strange duck. She is a huge Jane Austen fan and has a difficult time relating to her own real life, feeling like she is living in the wrong century. She has no romantic life, instead only manifesting itself in her writing and yearning for a love story worthy of a Jane Austen heroine.
One evening, after Agathe imagines a handsome naked man in a restaurant, she is inspired to write the beginning of a romance novel in English. Her friend, Félix (Pablo Pauly), with whom Agathe is very close, reads her work and secretly sends it to the Jane Austen Residency, a two-week writing retreat held in England. When they accept her, Agathe reluctantly gets into a car and lets Félix drive her to the Channel ferry. As she is about to board, they kiss for the first time.
Agathe is met at the ferry by Oliver (Charlie Anson), a distant descendant of Jane Austen's (his parents run the Residency). There is a meet cute moment when en route to the Residency, Oliver's car breaks down and they have to spend the night in the car. Agathe insults him in French under her breath, and he surprises her when he informs her he is fluent in French. Oops. And he also informs Agathe he thinks Jane Austen is overrated. Double oops. The next morning they are rescued by an apple-cart.
This is one of those romances where there is hostility at the beginning of the relationship. Oliver is an arrogant Mr. Darcy type and Agathe doesn't like him but slowly a connection develops. At the same time, though, Agathe experiences writer's block and Felix shows up creating a dilemma for Agathe.
Will Oliver and Agathe fall in love? Or will she choose Felix? And will she finish her novel?
Written and directed by Laura Piani in her feature debut, this is a quiet film, beautifully atmospheric, but how can you go wrong with the beauty of Paris and the English countryside looking like a Constable painting at every turn? Rutherford, who reminded me a bit of a younger version of Katie Holmes, is believable and charming as the awkward, anxiety-ridden Agathe.and Anson reminded me of a young Hugh Grant, perfect for a sweet, but complicated, rom-com.
What sets this apart from other rom-coms is that this is not just about a young woman finding love but more about a young woman finding her artistic path. You go girl!
Rosy the Reviewer says...if you love Jane Austen, Paris and the English countryside, you will love this romantic homage to literature and writing. (Netflix in English and French with French subtitles).
An American businessman travels to Italy to stop his daughter from spending all of her money restoring an old villa, not realizing what is in store for him.
Fifty-something American widower Eric Field (Scott Foley) returns to Italy to try to stop his 24-year-old daughter, Liv (Maia Reficco), from blowing her inheritance on rebuilding a villa. Eric has taken time off for the first time in years from his restaurant support company out of concern that Liv is possibly jeopardizing her future. Liv has had a difficult time deciding what she wants to do. She has been spending time in Italy as a tutor in Milan, a nanny in Florence and even worked harvesting olives, but then she discovered the village of Montezaraand decided she wanted to settle down there.
Montezara is part of the 1-euro Housing Plan, a new economic plan to help remote parts of Italy. It involves selling abandoned heritage villas "as is" for one Euro, so Eric and Liv check out the potential properties, and while doing so, meet the town mayor, Francesca (Violante Placido). She is wholeheartedly in favor of the 1-euro project, hoping to revitalize Montezara. They also meet Bernardo (Tommaso Basili), the local surveyor whose job it is to oversee construction projects and he is not in favor of the project, concerned about non-italians buying up properties.
Liv chooses a property and Eric decides to handle his business remotely and stay to help Liv with the renovation despite a tense on-going relationship with her and business problems at home. As the renovation moves forward, Eric gets an idea of turning the property into a cooking school, but more problems arise and not just with the cooking school plan. As Eric starts to have romantic feelings for Francesca, Bernardo is not happy to have a rival for Francesca's affection.
So who will Francesca choose? And will Liv and Eric strengthen their father/daughter bond? And what about that cooking school?
The actors are believable and Foley and Placido make a handsome couple. Placido is a particularly lovely actress. Hubby was drooling over her the whole time!
Written by Elizabeth Hackett and Hilary Galanoy and directed by Mark Waters, this film is light as a feather with some Hallmark Channel vibes, but I appreciated the generational romance aspect: we have Eric and Francesca, two people of a certain age in a romance, but also Liv and a local young chef are attracted to one another. It's also a father/daughter story as Liv and Eric work through their problems. But this is also a love letter to Italy as the film is visually beautiful and showcases the beauty of Tuscany (the town of Pienza stands in for Montezara).
Rosy the Reviewer says...if you like your romance set in a beautiful Italian location with some reno and Italian house hunting thrown in, and you don't mind some predictable plot lines, you will enjoy this light, but charming rom-com. ( in English and Italian with English subtitles - Netflix)
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