Little Italy

When the poster for 'Little Italy' came out in the summer of 2018, it went viral for how bad it was: Exclaim! said it looked like a 2002 straight-to-DVD rom-com from the discount bin at a gas station. Behind it was Donald Petrie, who thirty years earlier had made another pizza-parlour romance, 'Mystic Pizza', with Julia Roberts. This time the lead is her niece, Emma Roberts.

Nikki Angioli and Leo Campo grew up together in Toronto's Little Italy, until their fathers, once partners and friends, fell out and opened rival pizzerias next door to each other. Nikki left for London to train as a chef, and now, with a shot at running a restaurant for her mentor (Jane Seymour), she has to go home for a few days to sort out her visa.

There she runs into Leo (Hayden Christensen), who still works at his dad's pizzeria and tends bar in the neighbourhood. The spark's still there, but the feud between the Angiolis and the Campos won't make it easy, and meanwhile the grandparents, Andrea Martin and Danny Aiello, are having a secret romance of their own.

Alyssa Milano plays Nikki's mother, with Adam Ferrara and Gary Basaraba as the two warring fathers. Steve Galluccio, who wrote 'Mambo Italiano', co-wrote the script with Vinay Virmani, and it was one of Aiello's last films before his death in December 2019.

It opened in Canada in August 2018 and in the US a month later, in a handful of cinemas and on demand. Critics were very hard on it, mostly for its dated stereotypes and humour, though a few had kind words for the supporting cast. In the UK it carries a 15 certificate and is on Prime Video.

• Comedy
• Romance