Love & Gelato Review: Mindless Escapism

Let’s preface this by setting expectations: Netflix’s Love & Gelato is based on a YA coming-of-age novel of the same name. It’s a watered-down Eat Pray Love for teenagers that have an opportunity to go soul searching overseas after losing a parent.

That’s not to say it’s necessarily a bad film. If you’ve been swarmed with TikToks or posts of your friends on envious foreign vacations, Love & Gelato is a great way to microdose on Europe. If you’re looking for a unique story, well, maybe go watch something else.

So, who is this movie for? It’s for people who recently lost a loved one and wish they could have more time learning about their past. It’s for the people who were #TeamNico on Killing Eve and people who loved The Lizzie McGuire Movie.

And it’s especially for anyone who wants to get lost in a low-stakes summer romance.

The premise of Love & Gelato is played out. Girl meets Boy. Girl meets another Boy. Boys come from completely different backgrounds. Boys used to be friends but now are enemies. Girl must decide which path to take.

Even the “twist” in the end (she chooses herself) isn’t all that surprising considering how chaotic her romances with Alessandro and Lorenzo panned out.

And sure, the film does a nice job of setting up the story for us with Lina’s narration at the beginning. There could have been more emotional backstory built up with her and her mother’s relationship, to make us care a little bit more. 

Props to Love & Gelato for casting Italian actors as Italians (yes, I’m looking at you Paolo from Lizzie McGuire) though, and I appreciated how much of the movie was in Italian. It’s a sure-fire way to keep your audience’s attention on the screen because most of us have to be actively reading.

It’s also nice to see a character sure of her abilities. Lina, for all of her inexperience with boys, is incredibly smart.

And better yet, she actually knows Italian. So contrary to films where we see the protagonist struggle her way through communication, it’s great to see a character that can immerse themselves fully.

We also get to see two male love interests that have an equal number of pros and cons. In so many instances where a film centers around a love triangle, there are often no redeeming qualities to the “bad boy” of the bunch.

Love & Gelato turns that stereotype on its head. Alessandro is the quintessential playboy-type character, but the film does a nice job of making you sympathize with him. He’s living under his father’s thumb and all he wants is to go out on his own.

Lorenzo, on the other hand, is the boy next door foil. He’s working class and aspires to get into cooking school to become a chef. His mothers live in the Italian countryside, completely different from Alessandro’s city villa.

He has everything going for him until he uses Lina to cheat on his longtime girlfriend Georgia.

There’s something to be said about how each of the young men draws Lina out of her comfort zone, and it’s something that her mother would have been immensely proud of. When Alessandro urges her to play tag in an opera house, and when Lorenzo zips her around Rome, we realize that this is exactly what her mother hoped for her daughter’s journey.

The adult characters in Love & Gelato are particularly enjoyable. Fran, her mother’s host sister on her own Italian adventure, fits into Lina’s life like a fun fairy godmother. I appreciated how reminiscent the “walking in heels” montage was of, you guessed it, The Lizzie McGuire Movie.

My main pain point with Howard’s character is how absent he was in the span of the 2-hour film. The relationship journey he has with Lina was sweet, but it feels rushed for her to start calling him Dad by the end — just based on what we see of their interactions.

Speaking of the Dad of it all, the interaction Lina does have with her real father is obviously important to the story, however, it feels very rushed. A more meaningful interaction would have been nice to see. Although, it does take Love & Gelato to Florence, so I can’t fault the scene too much.

At the end of the day, Love & Gelato isn’t anything to write home to mom about, especially if you’re in Rome. If you want to practice your Italian, are wistful for a Tuscan vacation, or if you’re a particular fan of love triangles, I think you’ll enjoy it.

Stray Thoughts:

• To be totally transparent, I haven’t read the book so I can’t say how close of an adaption it is. From what I’ve read of the summary, it’s not a very close one.
• That being said, the other books in the series are called “Love and Luck” and “Love and Olives” meaning Irish and Greek stories. Say less.
• Lina’s dress to the opera is STUNNING. It’s a gorgeous color on her.
• I love the idea of an off-the-books bakery. Who knew pastry could be so controversial.
• Nonna for MVP
• Honestly mad that we didn’t find out the secret ingredient for the gelato in the end.
• The whole fake Instagram plotline was weird? A little too Emily in Paris for me.
• “Rome is NASCAR with more yelling” — best quote of the film
• No offense to Susanna Skaggs but that wig at the end was atrocious

What did you think Love & Gelato? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Love & Gelato is now streaming on Netflix.

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