This is typical Hallmark Fare. I love Italia Ricci, but as another review mentioned, there was no chemistry between her and Peter Porte. One of my ongoing complaints about Hallmark movies is about using actors who can't maintain there accent consistently.
Also, Italia throws her coin into
the Fountain of The Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi) not the Trevi Fountain!
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blamkin-3398525 May 2020
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omijer28 July 2019The potential for a very romantic movie was somehow lost in this Hallmark film. The views of Rome were stunning! The beautiful leading actress did her very best with a rather weak and convoluted script. Her smile is radiant, and her acting is pitch-perfect. However, there was much to be desired in the script and the plot. For one, there were too many plot lines. The star's family 'secrets' , of one..The leading man's writer' block, for another. The pressure from the papparazzi, yet another. Halfway into the film, it became difficult to follow so many themes. Credit goes to the two leads who tried to make this a romanic love story credible and captivating..Somehow they failed. In a Hallmark movie, one always knows the story will end with a kiss. Waiting for it in this film was rather a long drawn-out ordeal. The chemistry between the two leads was just not there. The secondary leads were so much more interesting..the hotel butler who befriended the young American actress. The older Italian woman who encouraged the male lead to follow his heart..They were animated and captivating characters. The two main leads seemed to be struggling to achieve some romantic connection.. To say more about what may have impeded it would be politically incorrect.
This film had so much potential and, sadly, missed the mark.. -
jml198817 November 2020This was very warm and endearing from beginning to end. I liked that there wasn't a vicious villain to overcome as there sometimes are in other movies. The sightseeing around Rome was fun to watch as well.
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phd_travel29 August 2019At least this isn't a remake of Roman Holiday. That was done and it was a disaster. This is about a reporter doing a story on an actress doing a remake of Roman Holiday. The filming is on location and lovely. Italia Ricci of Designated Survivor is pretty and plays the actress. Peter Porte plays the reporter. The drama is approval of her profile he promised her and didn't deliver. Bit of a storm in a teacup but like the way the sister helped her get over her drama. OK but not a must watch.
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Kirpianuscus1 January 2022I love Italia Ricci beautiful work and Barbara Bouchet short presences. I love the manner to use Rome as perfect frame and the idea of Roman Holiday remake. It is a simple, honest film. Not spectacular, not cheesy but , in few scenes, reminding the wind of a very early spring day. An actress, a reporter, both Americans, an interview and something little more. And a far to be bad result.
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EPMD5726 August 2019First the good: The setting is fantastic. This is a far cry from the usual cookie cutter setting of TV movies. The lead actress was quite good, and some of the supporting cast did their jobs admirably. The plot isn't as painfully obvious as most Hallmark movies.
Now the bad:
The lead actor's hair often looked straight out of 1995. The lead actress was pregnant, almost to the point of distraction. The entire conceit of the story seems incredibly unrealistic, but I guess I have to let that slide. It's just so hard to ignore it when it leads to virtually every other plot point in the movie. And then finally, the leads were a bit stiff with each other. Some scenes make you picture them more as brother and sister than anything else.
Overall, I think the good outweighs the bad, and I'd rank this movie ahead of typical Hallmark quality. -
The two main reasons for seeing the first 2019 Summer Nights film 'Rome in Love' were for Hallmark completest sake and for stunning Rome (a must go for anybody who hasn't been there) itself. Have seen the two leads in other things, with a preference with the less used Peter Porte (loved him in 'A Gift to Remember'). Am less keen for Italia Ricci, Porte has always looked more natural on screen and has a lot more warmth as an overall actor.
'Rome in Love' didn't click with me and doesn't live up to its cute title. It is another one of those one-time watchable but fairly average 2019 Hallmark film, which is neither one of the best or worst from that year. It is also neither one of the best or worst of the 2019 Summer Nights films. There are definitely some obvious good things about 'Rome in Love', but some significant drawbacks as well. A bit of a mixed bag if you will.
Starting with what is good, Rome is absolutely stunning and like its own character. So full of life and picturesque. The photography shows it in full glory as well. The cultural element was fun and charming, with nothing that comes over as too stereotyped. The music is pleasant at least and is not ill fitting, even if not the most memorable in the world.
Also thought that the supporting cast were great, so animated and lively with distinct personalities. A lot better than the leads.
Did find that the leads didn't work as well and lacked the vibrancy and animation of the supporting cast. Porte has shown far more naturalness and charm than what he shows here, here he comes over as bland and ill at ease. Ricci also seemed quite stiff and comes over as cold. Neither character is developed that well and Ricci's is another one that has too many character flaws over-emphasised. The chemistry between the two is lacking, never believed that they were in love and there was no real spark between them.
Furthermore, the direction at best is pretty workmanlike. The script tends to be stilted and is quite flavourless and over-egged. The story never really comes to life, is predictable even for a film that follows a formula of finding love abroad, lacks warmth and emotion and also tries to do too much in story development. It could have afforded to have done less and instead done more with the elements it had left, so that it would have felt less muddled.
In conclusion, loved Rome but didn't love the film. 5/10. -
Jackbv1235 June 2020This movie sat on my DVR for 3 months. I almost erased it several times. I was saving it as a last resort. I saw that it was a remake, or at least about making a remake of an absolute classic movie with an iconic star. I expected it to be a typical remake, cliché, derivative, just bad. I finally watched it.
First let me say that this movie probably pushed exactly the right buttons for me personally. I love sister stories. (When Hope Calls and A Christmas Note are always must see for me.) I won't give away some of the other heartwarming elements of that story. For me, that heaped on top of the Cinderella aspect of the story, was the heart of the movie. This combination was guaranteed to melt my heart. The romance was secondary for me. I did think there was good chemistry between Ricci and Porte.
Of course there are two things you can see coming from a mile away as far as this movie being predictable. But the writers used it to their advantage rather than having it be just another predictable ending.
I am sad to see reviewers who criticize the movie for Ricci being pregnant. I don't know Ricci well, so I didn't notice it. Shame on those people for several reasons. For one, it perpetuates the standard that seems to be expected that all of our female stars have not an once of fat. For another it hits unfairly at women who choose to be mothers while working in a world that penalizes them for that. Shame. I for one am glad to see a woman being able to enjoy having a family and still be able to work if that's what she chooses. I salute Hallmark for women like Ricci and Jill Wagner and Emilie Ullerup and Andrea Brooks who have all welcomed new family members in the last year and were apparently expecting while making a movie or TV show for them.
BTW: I often see complaints about book covers showing a scene that has nothing to do with the story. I had to laugh after seeing the picture featured to promote this movie and then watching the movie itself, it was Ricci driving the scooter, not Porte. -
SnoopyStyle10 August 2019Kathryn Tate sees that Roman Holiday is being remade and convinces her sister Amelia (Italia Ricci) to audition. She is paired with movie star Jonathan Lyman but her identity is kept secret for the promotion. Philip Hamilton (Peter Porte) has writer's block and meets Amelia.
Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck are big stars to aspire for. The targets are too high and this movie never gets close. Ricci is a fine Hallmark actress but it's unfair to have the comparison. The guys are worst. The Rome locations are great but they're not shot that well. Most egregious is the missing Mouth of Truth. I'm guessing that they won't let Hallmark film there. Instead of being about a Roman Holiday remake, it should be a fan girl's movie odyssey. That way, it can pay homage to the classic without having to be compared to it. This could never get a sense of the old film and the media circus comes off fake. Non of this has the substance that the classic film deserves. -
hypzrkunt26 March 2022I kep5 watching and Italian Ricci is reall6 good. I enjoy her charchter. Her sister is better but they are two best in movie that's a fun enjoyable watch.
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nhermida29 July 2019First it seems the main actors are a bit older than the characters they portray. Additionally, it is quite distracting that the main actress looks pregnant. A romantic movie should not have its female character trying to hide, unsuccessfully, ma pregnancy that is not in the script.
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lidewijvos24 July 2020Apart from a mediocre script (but hey, it's Hallmark), there are so many mistakes that clearly indicate that the writer never set foot in Italy or Europe and did zero research. "European plugs don't work in Italy" is incorrect. It's called a European plug for a reason. I could go on like this. Super lazy writing is distracting and a waste. The devil is in the details people.
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evans-1547513 October 2019This was an insult to both Roman Holiday and Audrey Hepburn
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cfischer911 April 2020I thought this was one of the more believable love stories for Hallmark. Enjoyable good acting and believable. Didn't seem forced as far as the storyline was.
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Why why why is it that everytime Hallmark takes their movie overseas, we hope for a beautiful exotic romance but instead end up being tragically disappointed - 'Paris, Wine and Romance' (which was filmed overseas but not in France apparently), 'Sun, Sand and Romance' (Cancun), 'Christmas Perfection' (Ireland) - all cringe shows. Only one offsite movie 'Love, Romance and Chocolate' filmed in Belgium was amazing but I digress.
The two leads in this show have absolutely no chemistry. Philip has more chemistry with his cat. I just did some googling and realised why but don't want to go into that. But, when Amelia and Philip look at each other, I felt nothing. No emotion, no spark, no chemistry. They were deadly dull to watch. Great lead chemistry examples for me can be found in Christmas Homecoming and Moonlight in Vermont - those shows I will watch over and over again.
The lead in this movie, Rome in Love, was beautiful in some scenes and in other scenes, almost as if she was somebody else, looked very old and very tired. And that incredible white poofy dress they put her in on the stairs ... it looked like a cloud had thrown up over and around her - it was awful! But hey, at least she carried off her real life pregnancy better than the lead in 'Paris, Wine and Romance' - for her it was just too big (pun unintended) an ask of a woman at that stage of pregnancy.
I didn't quite get the subplot about Amelia wanting her character to be more than eye candy in the movie. So did she get what she wanted or didn't she really care since she pouted about it but then didn't seem too bothered about it after that - the issue should have been handled properly or not brought up at all.
And I would sue a hotel for letting anybody claiming to be my sister into my hotel room and apparently into my bed without checking with me first.
The character Amelia came across as really spoilt and entitled. She wants to be a movie star but wants to be anonymous and she wants to have her privacy respected - and that is her big crisis in the show? How shallow and how absurdly ridiculous is that? It is like a doctor who says she never wants to see blood. Hello?
And her throwing her temper at Philip is not warranted. No other reporter would have allowed her to read the article and she is lucky he is looking at her through rose coloured glasses and not the usual invasive and no holds barred reporting that stars are subject to. The principle is simple - if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. Go be a school teacher where you get to protect your privacy - and even then maybe not!
She hadn't even read the article Philip wrote and she decided to throw her temper anyway. So awful she is. Her sister is right "If you are going to be mad at him, then at least know what you are mad with him about" - errrr which is nothing. It must be exhausting being her and even more exhausting being the people around her.
It's this kind of character flaws that make the viewer lose interest in the love story because they are not nice people so how can we root for them?
I found Peter Porte disconcerting to watch. He is actually so handsome in a Clark Kent way but he is so stiff and doesn't come across as a believable romantic lead.
I am so disappointed once again in my favourite Hallmark movies channel. I need to go pull out some of my Hallmark favourites to counteract this movie. -
dpowelldwp23 May 2021Ok, we are not talking major motion picture stuff here and the plot is ehhhh. But Peter Porte was very solid and charming and Italia was as beautiful as ever. Yes she was pregnant, but holy hell people get over it and just enjoy the film. Italia's relationship with her sister was very nice as was her interactions with the butler. So, a decent enough film in beautiful Rome with two high quality leads? Count me in.
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agambre31 July 2019Boring, boring, and boring!!! Hallmark, you can do better. Extremely disappointing. 15 minutes was all I can take with this movie.
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miquiaro29 July 2019Boring, bland, dull, plain... Should I go on?
The actress not acting and the reporter/writer not writing, just spending time in Rome. I felt like Dante, the Cat, lying down in my bed tired of these boring humans.
I know, I know, it's a Hallmark movie but still. They can do much better. -
moezya-3568130 July 2019This like so many other hallmark movies bored me to death. The characters are in Tome and they fall in love with each other over time....snooze fest. Based off of the movie Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn.
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studioAT9 April 2021This was something a bit different from Hallmark, I enjoyed it.
With a nice story, echoing 'Roman Holiday' itself, this had lots of nice moments, and there was nice chemistry between the leads.
I personally didn't spot that Italia Ricci was pregnant, I thought she looked healthy and did a good job in her role.
Lovely stuff, one of the best Hallmark films I've seen in a while. -
skpn12324 September 2019I really enjoyed the location shots and the storyline - touching, uplifting and light - and I DID NOT notice the lead was pregnant..... maybe true but only noticeable if one is already aware of this fact....
I found the lead male a little geeky to the point of irritating and the chemisty between them could have done with a little more development but still a great movie in its genre. -
armalis21 August 2019Casting: 8 Stars; Plot: 6 Stars; Characters: 7 Stars; Cinematography: 8 Stars; Location: 10 Stars; Watch Again? Yes.
Total: 8 Stars;
This is a charming movie if you are looking to relax before bedtime. It's sweet. It's pleasant. It's Hallmark. There isn't much of conflict and the emotions are not deep. Acting is a bit stiff at times.
I picked this movie to watch with my mom and reminisce about my visit to Rome a few years ago. If you are looking for an amazing, ground-breaking film, or an emotional romance that will change your life - this movie is not for you. However, if you are looking for a nice, sweet movie to make you smile and feel warm by the end, I recommend it. It's better than an average Hallmark movie. (Though the perfect whiteness of the leading man's smile kept me remembering Ross in that "Friends" episode...)
Now, I need to rewatch "Roman Holiday". That movie is still one of the best ever made, and I sincerely hope they do not try to remake it, because it's perfect just the way it is. Sad ending and all. -
laramia-garcia28 July 2019It is far from Anita Hughes novel of the same title...the vibe is different and the way she met Philip is different, so I just considered this as a different story altogether. After all, it's an adaptation, and not something the tele-playwright created from scratch.
:-) -
Yes, Italia Ricci is no Audrey Hepburn, but she's definitely in a class of her own. I like her chemistry with Peter Porte, and for me they look very beautiful together.
I remember people talking negatively about Jen Lilley's baby bump(I have a very different opinion about that), but I don't think they would do the same with Italia.
The nice thing about this movie based on Anita Hughes novel of the same title is that it's more of a story between a simple ordinary woman with great talent and personality and a blocked writer...yes, they are filming a remake, but it's not really the remake per se, so I guess comparing it with the classic that catapulted Ms. Hepburn's career with awards to boot would be pointless.
I also love the supporting characters.
It also has interesting twists.
What are they? I would rather not tell.
All I can say is that I enjoyed it.
Would you enjoy it?
It really depends on what you are looking for.
I guess I will leave it at that.
Thanks for your time. :-) -
My favorite hallmark movie of the year so far. You know what, cut the hallmark; just my favorite movie of the year so far. Amazing acting but even better writing. When the rival reported was sent on a wild goose chase, I laughed out loud. Sending it to the book store right now to buy the book.