This movie is the remake of an homonymous Italian film from 2001 titled "L'ultimo bacio" (The Last Kiss). The script, the acting and the production as a whole have however a considerably higher standard.
Dialogue, which was atrocious in the Italian version, is now bearable. Situations are lively, realistic and engaging, while in the original movie they were little more than melodramatic or farcical scenes.
Most characters are lifelike and plausible, while in the Italian movie they were just predictable, grotesque caricatures lacking all subtlety. In short, ironic vs. heavy-handed.
In this remake actors actually act (pretty well), instead of simply yelling and screaming throughout the whole movie. The acting is successful at conveying credible feelings of love, betrayal, anger and regret. Especially love is genuine and palpable, while the original movie comes across as rather cynical and disillusioned.
In fact, it is not clear whether the Italian version primarily aims at being an entertaining romantic comedy or a serious piece of social criticism. This Hollywood remake clearly opts for the former, which gives it rhythm, unity and coherence.
Another merit of this new version is that it offers a more equal and modern take on marriage and steady relationships, as opposed to the Italian strictly male chauvinistic dynamics. The male lead shows a greater depth and variety of feelings that goes beyond "feeling trapped" and "trying to escape." He appears to be truly sensitive, which makes it possible for the audience to ultimately sympathize with him as well.
Even the movie's Casanova is better cast as a physically attractive bartender, instead of a shady Italo-Rastafarian. The only problem is that it is quite difficult to understand why such a finely chiseled, outgoing male model would even dream of taking off aboard an old RV on a humanitarian trip to Africa: It is completely off-character. In comparison, the motives of the Italian Rasta hippie were a bit more plausible. It is just not very reasonable to create a character who is both a hippie and a Casanova.
The main flaw of this remake is in fact that all secondary characters are not at all well-developed, while in the original movie they had almost the same weight as the protagonist. It is for instance difficult to understand the young father who leaves wife and child because he feels inadequate and unappreciated, or to feel for the persistent lover who has a very hard time accepting having been dumped by his high-school sweetheart. The hippie-Casanova character is reduced to a mere excuse to add a few spicy sex scenes here and there. Even the trip itself is never truly explained.
The original Italian version seems to have "given up", whilst this American remake ends on a hopeful and heart-warming note.
Dialogue, which was atrocious in the Italian version, is now bearable. Situations are lively, realistic and engaging, while in the original movie they were little more than melodramatic or farcical scenes.
Most characters are lifelike and plausible, while in the Italian movie they were just predictable, grotesque caricatures lacking all subtlety. In short, ironic vs. heavy-handed.
In this remake actors actually act (pretty well), instead of simply yelling and screaming throughout the whole movie. The acting is successful at conveying credible feelings of love, betrayal, anger and regret. Especially love is genuine and palpable, while the original movie comes across as rather cynical and disillusioned.
In fact, it is not clear whether the Italian version primarily aims at being an entertaining romantic comedy or a serious piece of social criticism. This Hollywood remake clearly opts for the former, which gives it rhythm, unity and coherence.
Another merit of this new version is that it offers a more equal and modern take on marriage and steady relationships, as opposed to the Italian strictly male chauvinistic dynamics. The male lead shows a greater depth and variety of feelings that goes beyond "feeling trapped" and "trying to escape." He appears to be truly sensitive, which makes it possible for the audience to ultimately sympathize with him as well.
Even the movie's Casanova is better cast as a physically attractive bartender, instead of a shady Italo-Rastafarian. The only problem is that it is quite difficult to understand why such a finely chiseled, outgoing male model would even dream of taking off aboard an old RV on a humanitarian trip to Africa: It is completely off-character. In comparison, the motives of the Italian Rasta hippie were a bit more plausible. It is just not very reasonable to create a character who is both a hippie and a Casanova.
The main flaw of this remake is in fact that all secondary characters are not at all well-developed, while in the original movie they had almost the same weight as the protagonist. It is for instance difficult to understand the young father who leaves wife and child because he feels inadequate and unappreciated, or to feel for the persistent lover who has a very hard time accepting having been dumped by his high-school sweetheart. The hippie-Casanova character is reduced to a mere excuse to add a few spicy sex scenes here and there. Even the trip itself is never truly explained.
The original Italian version seems to have "given up", whilst this American remake ends on a hopeful and heart-warming note.