[yasr_overall_rating]
Eric Lombard is a heartbroken former college football star who gets involved in a dangerous Florentine sport and a local woman, Stefania, while visiting his cousin Anna, who lives in Italy and teaches the Italian language to foreigners.
Evan Oppenheimer’s latest project, “Lost in Florence,” has potential – but, like its muscular leading man, can’t seem to hold on to a good thing. The film stars Brett Dalton as Eric Lombard, a former college football star who is dumped by his would-be fiancée while visiting his cousin in Italy. A heartbroken Eric finds solace in calcio storico, an incredibly dangerous Florentine sport with gladiatorial influences that bears some resemblance to American football. While immersing himself in Italian culture, Eric begins to fall in love with Stefania (Alessandra Mastronardi), his brother-in-law’s younger sister who is dating one of his calcio storico teammates.
I’ll say this – Oppenheimer did a great job of shooting Florence and the surrounding area. The city popped off the screen with vibrancy and life. It certainly made me want to visit Florence, but it didn’t really make me sympathize with any of his characters. The biggest problem with the film is its protagonist, Eric. He is a Pollyannaish mess whose self-pity and moping about make an otherwise endearing character utterly unlikable. Eric is a former college football star who made it to the “last round of cuts” with the National Football League’s New Orleans Saints before spending a year in the Canadian Football League. Did I mention that he has a gorgeous blonde girlfriend and apparently scored high enough on his law school admission exam to warrant an application to New York University’s prestigious law school?
After his girlfriend turns down his marriage proposal – a bad break, to be sure, but he also clearly did not discuss marriage with her at all before popping the question – Eric sticks around in Italy and begins to excel in calcio storico while nurturing a budding romance with Stefania, a beautiful woman who is dating one of his teammates. It is extraordinarily difficult to identify with a character who seems to have no flaws other than being a bit daft and who is constantly overwhelmed with good fortune. This undermines much of the film’s central conflict. What else could the universe possibly owe this guy?
Other than its fawning portrayal of the beefcake main character, “Lost in Florence” follows the typical romantic drama plot arc. Eric and Stefania’s blissful romance is inevitably interrupted by outside forces (in Eric’s case, his ex-girlfriend, and in Stefania’s case, her kind-of boyfriend) which also serve to affect the non-romantic parts of the film. But, of course, after a climactic calcio storico scene, everything works out for all involved. Well, everything works out for Eric at least. Stefania’s ex, Paolo, is left jilted in his moment of victory, while Eric’s ex, Colleen, is unceremoniously denied any sort of healthy closure. And Stefania? She had better hope someone better doesn’t come along.
Perhaps I am being too critical. Many romantic dramas fall into the trap of triteness, and there is something to be said for sticking to a formula if it works. The acting is good, at least, and the decision to shoot on location in Italy alone almost makes this worth watching. There isn’t much meat on “Florence’s” bones, but that isn’t necessarily the end of the world. Mastronardi is great as Stefania, and I have no doubt that Dalton has a much wider range than the rigidity of his role as Eric allowed.
In theaters Friday, January 27th
