Solo Mio Review – Kevin James’ rom-com is a delightful look at Italy, starting over, and allowing yourself a new lease on love

Plot: After being left at the altar in Rome, a man decides to go on his honeymoon alone.

Review: Love can be a funny, fickle thing. It’s often easy to think that you’ve got it all figured out. The stars are aligning. The butterflies are swarming. Everyone else is a fool, and you’ve managed to solve the riddle. However, as quickly as love comes, it can also get taken away, and in Solo Mio, Matt (Kevin James) learns a harsh lesson in expectations, rushing to fill a void, and thinking that you only get one chance at true love.

It’s always nice when a movie exceeds your expectations. I didn’t know what to expect from Solo Mio – mostly because I didn’t watch a trailer or read the synopsis – but what I got is a sweet, picturesque romantic comedy that tells a simple love story more than well. In the film, Kevin James plays Matt, a warm and jovial if slightly unremarkable guy who gets left at the altar while hosting a dream wedding in Italy. Devastated by his circumstances, Matt rides a downward spiral on his way to the bottom of bewilderment and despair. What went wrong? Where did she go? Wait. There’s a note. The note says she’s still in Italy?! However, she wants to be left alone. Needs time to think. It’s only after the owner of Matt’s hotel suggests that he stay in Italy and enjoy the unrefundable honeymoon package he paid for that Matt discovers there’s life after shattered love, and it’s possible that someone better could come along.

I’m telling you right now, Solo Mio will make you want to go to Italy. Charles and Daniel Kinnane bring their seasoned documentary chops to capturing one of the world’s most enigmatic and romantic cities, capturing its beauty in ways that make the European metropolis look like a dream destination. The architecture. The nightlife. The vineyards. It’s all there, and the city feels like a character in and of itself instead of B-roll filler. I could smell the coffee in the cafe. I wanted to share a glass of wine with the people.

Kevin James plays Matt as a mild-mannered victim of lost love. Matt walks around in dazed confusion for a portion of the film as he navigates his loss in a city filled with colorful characters and too much vino. I could not help but feel for Matt as he attempts to process his grief, a process that’s interrupted by other honeymooners meddling in his affairs, including Kim Coates as the social bull in a china shop, Julian, and Jonathan Roumie as Neil, a crunchy newlywed who married his own therapist. Coates brings a scuzzy cheer to the events as Julian, who can’t lift a finger to mind his own business, but will give you the world if it would help you to feel better. Julian is on his third honeymoon with his wife, Meghan, played by a delightful Alysson Hannigan. Julian and Meghan are like oil and water, but they’re always down to party, and Matt needs to celebrate! He’s been given a new lease on love after all.

Roumie’s Neil is a mixed bag. Roumie plays the part well, lending his character an awkwardness that makes him someone you want to hug and shake at the same time. Snap out of it, man! Communicate! Use your words! Still, his dynamic with his wife Donna (Julee Cerda) makes for some of the film’s best comedy. They love to snipe at one another. Donna, course-correcting Neil’s behavior, continues to therapize him at every turn. Usually, this would get under my skin a bit, but Neil could use a firm hand and an even stronger spine. In time, Donna will whip him into shape. He won’t do it because he has to. He does it because he loves Donna and wants to make it work.

Lighting up the screen with an energetic and endearing performance is Nicole Grimaudo as Gia, an Italian native who finds herself falling in love with Matt after they meet in a cafe. Why would Nicole fall for a sad sack whose nuptials just went up in smoke? That’s the thing. She doesn’t know. Matt never got around to telling her all the details about his solo campaign in Italy. Still, as serendipity pushes Matt and Nicole together, a genuine chemistry between James and Grimaudo arises. I immediately began rooting for them. Not because that’s the formula, but because I wanted more scenes with them together. Thankfully, Solo Mio delivers a cute and clever romance that never feels forced or on fast-forward. It’s not love at first sight; it’s enjoying each other’s company, getting to know one another, that type of stuff.

Now and again, it’s nice to watch something that doesn’t require you to think, but also makes you feel good. Solo Mio was that movie for me. It’s uncomplicated, includes a few surprises, and makes you feel like “the one that got away” might not be the one at all. I like hopeful stories, and Solo Mio urges you never to give up in the game of love. As much as it hurts, starting over gives you a chance to reinvent yourself and become someone better.

As I’d said, I didn’t know what to expect from Solo Mio, but I’m glad to have seen it. I genuinely enjoyed its light-hearted approach to Matt’s story, and appreciate the efforts of the Kinnanes (and Kevin James, who co-wrote the script) to make a romantic comedy relatable, grounded, and cozy. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to Italy, but Solo Mio is a great way to feel like you’re there, and anything is possible.

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