Our Italian Husband
by Ilaria Borrelli
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Brooke Shields, Chevy Chase, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Pierfrancesco Favino, Rich DuvaDirector: Ilaria Borrelli
Brand: Lions Gate
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 91 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-07-18
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Xenon
Movie Reviews of Our Italian Husband
Movie Review: That's Amore
Summary: 2 Stars
If you like your romantic comedies chock full of recognizable stereotypes, completely devoid of logic, and miles away from making you think, then you'll love "Our Italian Husband," a 2004 farce now making the rounds of the video stores.
The set-up is simple: Vincenzo is a largely talentless Italian sculptor who makes his way to New York in search of fame and fortune. Unfortunately, while leaving a wife and two children behind, he finds not fame and fortune, but another wife. Add her one child from a previous relationship and the bun Vincenzo has deposited in her oven, and our hero has equally balanced families on both sides of the Atlantic. Naturally, since this is a "comedy," the Italian wife and kids soon turn up at the door of the NYC wife and kids, for whom Vincenzo has been no more able to provide than he was for his Italian brood.
Unfortunately for the audience and a mostly talented cast, in place of creativity, writer/director Ilaria Borrelli falls back on hackneyed convention. It is no surprise, therefore, that in place of acting, accomplished Italian thespians Maria Grazia Cucinotta and Pierfrancesco Favino deliver stereotypes straight out of central casting, while Chevy Chase is simply embarrassing as a sleazeball cable-TV huckster who tries to cheat both of Vincenzo's women. The only cast member who isn't a disappointment is Brooke Shields, who, since she can't act anyway, lives up to her usual standards but does no worse than one has come to expect after lo these many years.
Yes, it is a "cute" movie that will pass pleasantly enough, and actually generate a smile or a titter or two. But the problem is that with the banal storyline and by-the-numbers acting, the viewer has time to wonder about the underlying message of the film. Borelli must have a large amount of pent up anger towards men in general and men of Southern Italian extraction in particular. The former in this film are portrayed as generally useless except as hired domestic help, and the latter are portrayed as irredeemable pigs. Nice.
Needless to say, it is the plucky women who save the day, keep themselves and their kids from living on the streets, and give Chevy Chase his just deserts. Having more than met his match in their combined empowerment, Vincenzo, for his part, faces a life of doing the dishes.
This film is no worse than a lot of the romantic comedies out there, and is probably better than some. Cucinotta gets to display some of her characteristic fire, Shields get to play a grown-up (sort of), Chase gets to essentially reprise some of his old SNL routines and everyone gets to live happily ever after.
These are hard times for romantic comedy, a genre whose glory days of Cary Grant are long gone. In place of the cleverness of yesteryear, today's audience is usually offered the sappy, the silly, and the stale. "Our Italian Husband" not the worst the genre has to offer by a long shot; it is just light years away from being really interesting, genuinely engaging or truly amusing. Frankly, day old pizza has more appeal.
Summary of Our Italian Husband
This hilarious romantic comedy stars the ever-popular Brooke Shields as Charlene, the American wife of Vincenzo, a struggling Italian artist who wants to make a name for himself in New York's cutting-edge art scene. Just one problem: He's already married! When Maria, Vincenzo's Italian wife, crosses the Atlantic with two her kids, she's less than thrilled to find her husband living with the very pregnant Charlene, whose fury matches anything Maria can dish out. But both women soon find themselves united against Paul Parmesan, a self-serving home shopping magnate who tries to exploit them bothArt House & International DVD Video
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