Sal Angioli (Adam Ferrara) and Vince Campoli (Gary Basaraba) used to be close friends and business partners. One day, after their pizza won a local contest, they became estranged and bitter rivals, each opening his own pizza parlor right beside each other. Despite this family feud though, the Angioli matriarch Franca (Andrea Martin) and the Campoli patriarch Carlo (Danny Aiello) had their own secret shenanigans going on.
Meanwhile, their children Nicoletta "Nikki" and Leo grew up together in the Little Italy district of Toronto as best friends since childhood. Nikki eventually left town to take up culinary lessons in London under noted chef Corinne (Jane Seymour). When Nikki came back home for a short two-week visit, Leo tried to rekindle the romance between them, with awkward results. Will Nikki choose to stay with Leo, or will the chef position in Corinne's newest restaurant be too tempting for her to refuse.
This film had a predictable story, cheesy dialogs and corny jokes. The basic premise was straight out of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" (and they did acknowledge this) but made into a light little comedy without the tragic parts. This rom-com had an old-fashioned look and feel about it, seemingly shot and set in the 1990s. The jokes were hit-or-miss, generally good-natured and occassionally naughty.
The lead roles Nikki and Leo were played by Emma Roberts and Hayden Christensen, both of whom did not seem to be of Italian descent. With the diversity available to the filmmakers in terms of ethnicity in their setting, I thought this was a strange casting choice. I'm sure there were plenty young Italian actors and actresses out there who can do these roles with more authenticity. Being Italian was an intergral part of the story.
Emma Roberts is of mixed ethnicity from six European countries, Italy is not one of them. She is a perky young actress who had played several lead roles since she broke through in kiddie films like 'Aquamarine" (2006) and "Nancy Drew" (2007). Compared to her more recent roles in "Nerve" (2016) and "Billionaire Boys Club" (2018), her role here in "Little Italy" as Nikki seemed like less of a challenge for her as an actress. She breezed through this role like a leisurely walk in the park.
Hayden Christensen at least had some Italian blood on his mother's side, but he is 10 years older than Emma Roberts. This actor hit a major career jackpot when he was cast as Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels. Unfortunately, his critically-maligned performance in those films did not bode well for his success in Hollywood since then. This was not award-winning for sure, and his lines were the corniest, but as Leo, he was actually more relaxed than the other films I had seen him in.
The better chemistry in this rom-com actually belonged to its most senior couple, Franca and Carlo. Andrea Martin is of Armenian ethnicity, but she was able to pull off this role as an true-blue Italian grandmother very realistically. She had long been acclaimed for her impersonation skills since early in her multi-awarded career on stage and tv. Danny Aiello is of course of pure Italian parentage. A veteran character actor and Oscar nominee, Aiello was very playful here and a joy to watch, a departure from his usual role as a mobster.
Director Donald Petrie is a veteran of several familiar rom-coms like "Miss Congeniality" (2000) and "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" (2003). "Little Italy," being a film about rival pizza-making families, is a sort of throwback to the film that launched his career as a feature film director "Mystic Pizza" (1988). The casting of Emma Roberts may actually be a reference to her aunt Julia Roberts, the lead star of "Mystic Pizza." I think it is safe to say though that "Little Italy" will not do to Emma, what "Mystic Pizza" did to Julia.
This is not ground-breaking by any means, in fact you call call it a miscast cliche. However, it can still be a pleasant way to pass the time for people who fancy a taste for old-fashioned rom-coms. 5/10.
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