Cannes

Love Is All There Is

 (Comedy-Drama -- Color)

By LEONARD KLADY

A Samuel Goldwyn Co. release of a China Seven production. (International sales: Trident Releasing.) Produced by Elliott Kastner. Executive producer, George Pappas. Co-producers, Andrew Kosove, Broderick Johnson, Tim Kelly, Chantal Ribeiro. Directed, writtenby Renee Taylor , Joseph Bologna.
 
Sadie Cappamezza - Lainie Kazan
Mike Cappamezza - Joseph Bologna
Countess Malacici - Barbara Carrera
Mona - Renee Taylor
Count Malacici - Paul Sorvino
Gina Malacici - Angelina Jolie
Rosario Cappamezza - Nathaniel Marston
The Monsignor - William Hickey
Rudy - Abe Vigoda
Dr. Rondino - Dick Van Patten
Miss Deluca - Connie Stevens

 

The acting-writing team of Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor makes a welcome screen return in "Love Is All There Is." It's been more than two decades since Bologna and Taylor were at the height of their popularity with "Lovers and Other Strangers" and "Made for Each Other," but much of their comic observation about courting and marriage remains wickedly funny and poignant. Still, this picture will primarily strike a chord with a more mature audience, limiting its box office to modest, upscale crowds. U.S. ancillary returns look good, though the absence of star performers will probably curtail significant international play.

The film's framework is the classic story of two feuding families forced to come to terms with one another when their children form a romantic union. Sadie (Lainie Kazan) and Mike Cappamezza (Bologna) are a Bronx blue-collar couple who run the local no-frills eatery. Their counterparts are the seemingly aristocratic Count and Countess of Malacici (Paul Sorvino and Barbara Carrera), transplants from Italy who operate an upscale restaurant catering to those with a palate for Northern Italian cuisine.

The stark contrast allows for a bedrock of obvious and vulgar comedy. The mudslinging is abetted by a colorful supportingcast that tears into the material with gusto. Matters intensify when Rosario Cappamezza (Nathaniel Marston) fixes his sights on Gina Malacici (Angelina Jolie). The two are essentially no match for their parents, but they persist and ultimately erode the familial animosity, reaching a sort of detente.

There's no question that the filmmakers are sentimentalists. Beneath the braggadocio beats a heart of solid mush. Still, the combination of full-blooded performances and a cautious sidestepping of the most egregious cliches allows "Love Is All There Is" to be a palatable, often touching, slice of home cooking.

Often assuming the quality of a stage production, the film allows Bologna to vent fully in a broad manner. More slyly comic are Sorvino and Carrera. And Marston and Jolie, as the young couple, provide a humorous innocence that complements the various warring factions. Directors Taylor and Bologna deserve major credit for balancing a variety of styles and tones in this heady confection. More problematic is the pic's look, which has more function than style.

The film is a notch or two superior to indie fare skewed to an older audience. But there's little question that it will have trouble attracting a crossover crowd, who will find the material a tad too precious and some distance from cutting-edge comedy.

Camera (color), Alan Jones; editors, Nick Eliopolous, Dennis M. O'Connor; music, Jeff Beal; production design, Ron Norsworthy; art direction, Ellee Wynn-Briscoe; costume design, Donna Granata; sound (Ultra-Stereo), Joe Romano; assistant director, Harvey Waldman; casting, Jean Scoccimarro. Reviewed at Cannes Film Festival (market), May 10, 1996. Running time: 97 min.