Life is never easy, and the romantic comedy genre is no exception. Vito (Antonio Folletto), in the midst of battling for the custody of his son after the departure of his partner tries to prevent eviction along with his brother Antonello from Naples, in Umberto Carteni’s ‘The Love Scam.’ Vito’s brother, Antonello (Vincenzo Nemolato), who is a loveable fool, failed to make payments due, thus, the family home was sold to an affluent businessman. In order to pay off that ‘Company’ and buy back their grandfather’s built house, they try to woo the developer’s daughter Marina (Laura Adriani) in return for Guilders. The deal works if only, Vito pretends to be Carlo, a rich businessman, and claims to be in search of investments for fake nonprofits.
All possible identity “mistakes” and lying through the teeth to impress a more or less provided romantic partner are frequent places, even in the realm of romantic comedy.
In “You’ve Got Mail,” which is a classic enemies-to-lovers movie set in the internet age, Tom Hanks wants to conceal his identity from Meg Ryan, whereas in “The Shop Around the Corner,” James Stewart conceals himself from knowing that Margaret Sullavan is patiently waiting for him to reach out through pen, not because the identity exchange is interesting. And in Norman Jewison’s “Only You,” Robert Downey Jr. impersonates someone else so that he can accompany Marisa Tomei in Rome. To get near to his love interest, Jasmine, our hero in Disney’s Aladdin pretends to be a rich man even though that’s not really what she’s looking for. If this method in real life would be disheartening, amusingly it works in movies as such are still being filmed. And so the twist is so hilariously good a line that everyone is aware the characters are in the dark about something. Then we want our heroes to make the right decisions, which they do, and want them to fall in love, which they do – until the end part of course.
Although the film “The Love Scam” is able to retain key aspects of popular movies, it manages to be disarmingly sweet because of the cast and crew.
Writers Caterina Salvadori and Ciro Zecca keep us on our toes with a couple of surprises even as we approach the anticipated end, combining the physiological and ideological elements for a seamless narrative. Director Carteni manages to delve into the complexity of Southern Italy’s exquisiteness, including rustic landscapes and ancient architecture, along with the devastation some of Vito and Antonello’s neighbors endure when Vito and Antonello’s house collapses around them. Carteni is in charge of a quirky group of actors, who manage to pull it off in sync, despite the fact that the plot does get slightly absurd.
As Vito and Carlo, Folletto runs circles around two utterly distinct roles while also attempting to include some odd touches and a father role in the middle. He acts in a totally organic manner, despite the fact that his persona can be rather reserved, and even in the real world, you can watch Adriani’s Marina slowly start to the end. Their bond is what makes this film remarkable. Her character grapples with her position and anxiety, so seeing her transition from a terrifying boss to a more relatable person who loves life is quite exhilarating and enables her to exhibit her emotions. The plot that Marina only wanted to be a chef rather than a businessman was not something I was feeling too fond of.
While this aligns with the genre’s sometimes rather pessimistic gendered roles, the writers integrate it by having her father get a night shift cleaning job in a restaurant that he then pretends to own in an attempt to convince her to cook with him, so it does not feel too much like teaching about going back to being homemakers. The storyline revolves around them in the initial episodes, but as Carlo starts switching Marina’s attention over them, Vito’s brother Antonello and Napoleon slowly each get sidelined. But the combination of a bumbling uncle and a useless baby does invite some laughs. For one, Folletto, an idealist scammer is charming and kind-hearted unlike Marina’s no-different boyfriend Federico (Loris De Luna) who is full of ambition. This gives him something of a fictitious competitor for the affections of the girl.
“Much Love Fraud” has sufficient boxes and features a great couple out of Folletto and Adriani, even if it does not take rom coms a new terrain. The scam inside a scam has a house of cards narrative which is mere scaffolding for the dominant stars of the movie-they are never in short supply. But while in many of the more recent romantic films the cute trinkets are integrated into the plot for the sake of the story, the protagonists seem devoid of sufficient heat to bring about in any way a convincing emerging of what is an expected happy ending. We understand why Mariana sends Vito this picture through her book so she can read the letters written inside during the film-The Love Scam-Vito gives her such a teasing look that tempts the audience a little wanted between them a teasing look that vvito gives after the book with a motivational phrase Lets pretend we don’t know the end. A mild touch of sincerity more than what is usual in “streaming romantic movies” is quite helpful.
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