User Reviews

Just because a movie is what people call "cliche", doesn't mean its inherently bad. While yes, there are aspects to this movie that are indeed cliche, it does not define Little Italy as a whole. Going into this movie I expected it to be romance focused and while that certainly is a highlight, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I laughed and found this movie to be genuinely funny and quirky. The two families and their relationships are crazy and chaotic, but I found them to be endearing and relatable in one way or another. So while I can't say this movie is the be all and end all of rom-coms, it was certainly worth the watch and doesn't deserve the bad ratings.

Here's the thing. By all standards this movie is terrible and you shouldn't watch it. When my boyfriend found out this was supposed to take place in Toronto's Little Italy, which is absolutely nothing like what is depicted in this movie and definitely does not have a ferris wheel, we knew this would be exactly the kind of hot garbage we like to hate-watch together. And hate-watch it we did.

I would guess that the writers had done no research beyond reading about Italian people on Wikipedia. The characters eat nothing but pizza the entire movie. They drink nothing but espresso the entire movie. They drop everything for impromptu soccer matches, grow basil on their roofs, and have cans of tomatoes literally everywhere. At one point somebody says "You can take the girl out of Little Italy, but you can't take Little Italy out of the girl," and that's both the best and worst line in the entire movie.

This is one of those films that's hard to review. I give it 5 stars not because of its quality, but because it's interesting and it provided entertainment. I loved making fun of this movie. Sometimes I can't sleep without white noise, and the last few nights my white noise of choice was this movie, and I had the most peaceful rest ever. I've felt compelled to rewatch it simply because it exists in an uncanny valley that is neither so-bad-its-good nor so-good-its-good. I give it five stars because that's what it deserves.

You know those movies where you can just relax and have a little bit of fun? Little Italy is one of those. I missed the light movie with a fun story, with a little bit of love and in this case, pizza! I like the actors, the story and the accents! Just relax and enjoy it!

My wife and I watched this movie at home, on DVD from our public library. It is mostly a cute, lightweight romantic comedy. Although I had assumed the location was New York City it in fact is Toronto. I suppose lots of large cities have a "Little Italy" section.

Two families are in the pizza business together, a boy and girl from each family grow up together as best friends. As young adults she goes off to culinary school in London, where she becomes one of the young stars with the opportunity to start a new restaurant. He stays home, works in the pizza shop, and has an apartment above the local bar where he also works.

Meanwhile the two families had a big falling out, they now have two competing pizza shops next to each other, and generally do not associate with the other family. This creates additional interest when the two old grandparents start to have affection for each other.

Hayden Christensen is the boy, Leo Campo and Emma Roberts is the girl, Nikki Angioli. (In real life he is 10 years older than she.) When Nikki has to return home to change her visa from student to work she and Leo, after 5 years apart, rekindle their old friendship. And it looks like there is a lot more there.

All the actors are fine here, the director made "Mystic Pizza" all those years ago with Julia Roberts, plus others like "Miss Congeniality", so there is some of that sensibility in this movie. Some scenes were irritating, with the anger and yelling, some acting was over the top, but overall it is an entertaining little movie.

Andrea Martin was a steal scene winner. She did better than the main cast and she made the movie more interesting! Emma Roberts, as usual, was breathlessly beautiful and sexy in the rain. Hayden Christensen has made a nice return. It is a shame that this movie has not been released on Valentine's Day!

Two households, each bereft of dignity, At College-Bathurst, where we lay our scene, With "paisano" stereotyped ethnicities And more clichés than should be on big screens. From forth the pizza shops of these two foes A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life. I'm kidding! None dies or even comes to blows Though wish it otherwise I'll bet you might.

Hayden Christensen and Emma Roberts are the unlucky, not-very-Italian actors saddled with performing in this modern-day Romeo and Juliet, set in Toronto's Little Italy and scrubbed clean of any poisonings, sword fights or deadly misunderstandings. (On the plus side, no gnomes!)

In spite of a 10-year age gap between the actors, we're meant to believe Leo and Nikki were childhood buddies growing up in neighbouring pizza shops, one run by Vince (Gary Basaraba), the other by Sal (Adam Ferrara). The two pie-stros were once best friends themselves, but had a falling out years ago; the reason is revealed at the end of the film and is no more worth the 100-minute wait than a delivered pizza would be.

Anyway, cut to the present day, when the kids are now in love but just don't know it yet. Nikki has just returned from England, where she's an up-and-coming chef. Leo continues to work in his dad's pizzeria, and moonlights at Luigi's bar, where the big joke is that Luigi (Andrew Phung) is actually Chinese.

Oh, and speaking of ethnic insensitivity, both pizza shops have resident Indian waitpersons (Vas Saranga, Amrit Kaur) who hurl insults at each other and - is this a spoiler? I'm going to say no - eventually fall for each other as well. But my favourite bit of colour-blind, accent-deaf casting had to be Andrea Martin as Nikki's granny, who delivers all her lines while staring into the distance as though waiting for a paycheque. Between this and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, she's become the go-to older relative of whatever nationality you need.

Little Italy was directed by Donald Petrie - Mystic Pizza; I know! - from a script by Steve Galluccio (Mambo Italiano) and Vinay Virmani (Dr. Cabbie). William Shakespeare's name is not in the credits, although the filmmakers were kind enough to include the rarely used scene from Act IV where Romeo chases Juliet through an airport. Otherwise, it's a pained mish-mash of rom-com clichés, including old people being horny and making Beyoncé references.

The leads have a soupçon of chemistry, most of its predicated on Roberts' squeaky laugh and Christensen's ability to be gentlemanly while drunk. But it's not enough to recommend this tired outing. I'd advise you to walk pasta theatre that's showing it.

It's not a bad movie in itself, it just feels so much like the movie "Pizza my Heart" from 2005. Story is very similar and I have to say I prefer the old one to this.

Really Bad . The worst movie I have seen this year so far . I am Italian its a painful movie to watch mostly because it reminds me of The Jersey Shore owned pizzerias.

It was a predictable rom-com but it had some laughs. I enjoyed it far more than Crazy Rich Asians.

It isn't Oscar material but it isn't a 1/10 either.

For being a Canadian production, I was pleasantly surprised as they have a reputation for being really bad.

Such a strange film... I mean the plot is workable for basic romcom. But so many weird choices were made that it's hard to understand what was going through the minds of the people who made this gem.

I'm honestly not sure what the biggest problem was... Was it the over the top New York accents for people in Canada? Was it Hayden Christensen's interesting hair with a horrible dye job? Was it the absurdity of the entire block turning out for a soccer shootout in the pouring rain at night? Was it the over the top caricatures of gay people and Indians?

This could have been a tolerable diversion. But it seems ruined by the director apparently screaming "MORE STERETYPES" at the actors every 30 seconds during filming.

It's cheesy,corny as hell and comedic just like the old romantic comedies.It's about time they went back to old school,who want's these so called dark comedies there depressing. Take a holiday from real life and watch this light hearted romantic comedy. I'm really surprised by all the negative reviews, maybe they like watching depressing movies. Or maybe I just like cheesy like my Pizza's. I really wasn't expecting this film to be so funny and entertaining it really brightened up my day. You can always tell why a comedy is funny by the short clips at the credits of the actors having fun making the film. If they have fun making it,it's always more fun to watch. Romantic comedy of the year for me. Loved it more please! Like another reviewer said eat pizza whilst watching it. Have fun!

So simple story, funny in some parts, nothing special, but it fun to watch

I dont understand all the bad reviews, this movie it is what is: funny, cheesy, corny.. and what? Sometimes, we need to be reminded to what truly is life about: family, friendship, and specially love...

Wacht it having a pizzza!!!

I really like that movie, even with all the clichés, bad acting (except, maybe, for Emma), bad directing and editing. Franca e Carlo story is pretty good and I would like to see more of it.

It's impossible to give a fair score to this movie, since it's really bad at the same time it's pretty good.

With a likeable cast of popular stars this could have been better. There's a lack of sparks and liveliness that makes this dull and B grade. There have been better Hallmark romances. The rainy soccer was dumb. The pizza thing didn't make me want to eat pizza. Hayden is actually part Italian but he comes across a bit of a caricature of an Italian Canadian. Emma isn't bad just a bit miscast. Both of them with their dyed black hair look strange. The supporting cast includes Alyssa Milano and Danny Aiello.

It's okay but that's all.

Little Italy is cheesier than all the pizza in the world. It tries desperately to be a modern day Romeo and Juliet story but fails to add interesting conflict or stakes. It is incredibly dull and low-energy.

The acting is typical of a romantIc comedy, failing to be relatable or charming, and worst yet funny. Rather than have characters react realistically, they wait for a couple of seconds for the camera to focus on them to delivery their dumb one-liner response. The movie feels the need to show you the same moment over and over with each character in the scene getting their chance at dropping a dumb one-liner. It's a shame, since I don't think Hayden Christensen is a terrible actor, but unfortunately his long hiatus from film is ended by a bottom-tier romantic comedy. There isn't much chemistry between the two leads, as it basically equates to PG porn. There is barely any depth to any of the characters due to a lack of struggle or calls to action, and they just meander and execute simple jokes and the occasional gag from time to time.

The music is rather awful, as the pop songs really contradict the more traditional Italian tunes throughout. The modern pop songs are some of the least romantic pieces of music that have ever been written and seen like a desperate attempt at pulling in teenage girls into this film that will probably be way too boring for them anyways. The sound design as a whole is pretty bad as their idea of adding energy is to just fade the volume of the music so it gets louder and louder as the scenes go on.

Despite being a movie boasting Italian culture, there is a huge lack of it here. There are many beautiful vistas in Italy, but we spend the vast majority of the film's time trapped in unromantic cramped spaces like kitchens and restaurants rather than landmarks.

This movie is funny - Not! It has stupid jokes that counter the way reality works. One of the most annoying tropes in dumb comedies is that of marijuana turning people into party animals. Pot is snuck into pizza sauce which leads to rambunctious grandma's dancing and getting frisky rather than just taking a nap. There are also several incredibly lazy jokes at the expense of an Indian character that equate to references to popular culture that dumb-dumbs would understand, like calling him Pizzadog Millionaire or something along those lines, or having him make a joke about an Indian woman's mom being a sacred 'cow' as an insult, and making bizarre innuendos in an exaggerated accent. There's also other standout unfunny jokes such as an art old man saying "Ow, my vagina!" rather than angina, which is a heart condition. There are a grand total of zero clever jokes throughout the whole film.

There's some random social commentary thrown in the absence of character rather than adding personality to a character. Out of nowhere a character drops a sob story about how they got kicked out by their dad after coming out as a homosexual towards the end of the movie, and it's essentially a throwaway piece of dialogue that doesn't really amount to anything in the little grand scheme of things.

Little Italy is a lame romantic comedy that isn't funny or charming and has nothing of interest to offer anyone but the least demanding of moviegoers. It almost feels like the theaters are where you go for films that are too bad, even for Netflix. If you're really desperate for some Romeo and Juliet, you'd be better off seeing them in Sherlock Gnomes. This film's more mind numbing than drinking a gallon of absinthe.

Nikki (Emma Roberts) is an aspiring chef in London. She has been learning from one of the best British chefs (Jane Seymour), who has just told her underling a secret. On the verge of opening a new restaurant, Nikki is one of two candidates the top cook will choose for her new venture as chief of the food production. But, Nikki will have to go back to her home in Canada and get some paperwork and plan the new menu. Reluctantly, Nikki does so. Back home in Toronto's Little Italy, you see, her pizzaria owning father has been feuding with a fellow pizza maker who once was his partner. The two men have shops side by side and have competed against each other for over five years, after winning a top pizza prize when they were together. No one knows why the feud happened. Not only this, Nikki's childhood best friend and crush Leo (Hayden Christensen) is the son of the rival Italian pasta family. Yet, somehow these two young people ran away from love, each in the opposite direction. As it happens, they meet again at once. One of their first acts is to stage a soccer competition in the rain, for Nikki always won out in the end at earlier times. Meanwhile, Nikki's grandma (Andrea Martin) and Leo's grandpa (Danny Aiello) have also secretly been seeing each other, as widows and widowers sometimes do. They, too, are aware their offspring will not be happy with a union. So, will romance blossom for two couples or will Nikki return to London as a hot chef? This beautifully photographed film is a joy visually. Toronto's Little Italy is a charming venue and the sites and sounds very pleasing. Likewise, although Roberts and Christensen are neither one Italian and have had to dye their hair dark, they make a charming couple. Martin and Aiello bring great fun and drama to their portrayals and the rest of the cast, including Alyssa Milano, are good, too. The script, too, has some creative elements, some a bit too much so, for most of the r-rated talk and situations do not enhance the tale, slightly damaging the enjoyment. Nevertheless, the energetic direction and the above good qualities listed, make for a recommendation to view it and fast forward over the offending parts.

No one noticed that is "Pizza my Heart" remake from 2005?

I watched this movie a few days ago and i really loved it.Nothing extraordinary but very pleasant to watch.

It is a waste of time and money. It has so many cliches and embarresing moments.

Movies are about a journey that takes u away from ur boredom and put a smile on ur face.. add a joy and thrill to ur feelings.

I think movies are either this.. and if not, at least movies are about advices or messages that can be seen or reached!! (LITTLE ITALY) is a cute-charming-simple movie that offers u that entertaining journey with a message !!

remember.. (WE COULD BOTH WIN) (we may not have it all together.. but together, we have it all)

those quotes have been proofed right by the story of the movie with a touch of love and comedy.. of course not in my very top list, but really glad that i watched it.

You have Culinary 5 Star Dishes that are amazing. Then you have Olive Garden where the food is ok but it gets you by and that is the best way to describe this movie. It is The Olive Garden of Rom-Coms. It's enjoyable, funny, but it's nothing to breaks new ground or award winning. My Fiancé she wanted to see it so I gave in. In a nutshell childhood bestfriends have feelings and the families have a pizza shop rivalry and thus it keeps them apart in a way.

I always found Emma Roberts attractive so that was a big seller. She was the best part of the movie. Aside from her the families in the movie were very funny in their antics.

The weakest point is the performance from Hayden Christensen his Italian accent felt like the fake cliché Italian gangster movie. It was really unconvincing & honestly annoying. Anyone else would've been better. The chemistry felt forced and almost one sided. The chemistry wasn't really there & blame it mostly Hayden his performance was very 1 dimensional leaving Emma not much to work with.

With this said the movie is still an enjoyable time killer rom-com. I feel it focuses more on the comedy than the romance which works here. So anyone can enjoy just dont go in it looking for oscar performances but just a light, charming, good feel movie, for a night.

What a stupid movie. Total waste of time. So cliche