3.5 stars. Rated TV-MA, for profanity, drug use and fleeting nudity
By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 8.7.20
Since it’s not possible to enjoy anything approaching an actual summer vacation, we can experience one vicariously, via Under the Riccione Sun.
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| Marco (Saul Nanni) has been sweet on Guenda (Fotini Peluso) for years, but she couldn't care less; she views him solely as a pal who gives great advice on how to reunite with her former boyfriend. |
This Italian charmer — debuting on Netflix — is a standard-issue romance, with budding relationships and unrequited love percolating among attractive, sun-drenched young twentysomethings enjoying a week of leisure at Riccione, a beach community on Italy’s Adriatic coast. So yes: Cinematographer Davide Manca spends considerable time surveying hunky guys and gorgeous gals in tight trunks and the briefest of bikinis. (An impressively wide range of the latter is provided by costume designer Valentina Mezzani.)
I actually approached this film with curiosity, wondering if Italian filmmakers would handle this genre with more grace than we Americans. Answer: Absolutely. Where most domestic examples succumb to coarse vulgarity and exaggerated characters, directors Niccolò Celaia and Antonio Usbergo — operating under the nom de film of “YouNuts” — take a gentler approach.
The result actually is rather sweet, allowing for the liberal application of F-bombs, which these young folks employ as default adjectives, adverbs and (yes) verbs.
Manca’s opening tableau is a stunner: an overhead traveling shot of Riccione’s amazingly huge beach expanse, replete with thousands (!) of geometrically precise umbrellas, cabanas and folding chairs. This is the awesome setting into which the writers — Caterina Salvadori, Enrico Vanzina and Ciro Zecca — pour their characters, and it’d be hard to imagine anything more sparkling and seductive.
Would-be musician Ciro (Cristiano Caccamo) arrives first, hoping to get noticed in some sort of performance competition. When that fails to pan out, he stumbles into employment as a lifeguard, much to the delight of countless cuties. (It should be mentioned that, at 31, Caccamo looks a bit too old for his role.)
Ciro has a girlfriend back home — Violante (Rosanna Sapia) — who routinely checks on him via texts and phone calls. She has good reason; he attracts all manner of female attention, none more aggressive than the flirty Mara (Giulia Schiavo), captain of a beach volleyball team.
The bookish Marco (Saul Nanni) hits town mostly to be near Guenda (Fotini Peluso); he has carried a torch for her for years, despite her having been in a steady relationship that entire time … until now. Opportunity knocks, because she has just been dumped by her boyfriend.
Marco rents a room from Gualtiero (Andrea Roncato), a middle-aged pick-up artist whose hallway is adorned with photos of various one-night stands; Marco immediately notices and wonders about a bare spot on the wall, indicating a photo removed for some reason.
He winds up sharing a room with Tommy (Matteo Oscar Girggioli), a long-haired, weed-toking slacker who’s flunking out of school and couldn’t care less. (He appears to be modeled, at least in part, on Sean Penn’s Spicoli, in 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High.) Tommy’s stoner tendencies notwithstanding, he immediately perceives that Marco, clearly a decent guy, could do far better than the insufferably vain Guenda.
Vincenzo (Lorenzo Zurzolo), a blind 20-year-old virgin, arrives chaperoned by his overly protective mother, Irene (Isabella Ferrari). Although understandably self-conscious about how his blindness might affect his potential as a “catch,” his insecurities are magnified by Irene’s well-intentioned but no less smothering presence.
Still, Vincenzo maintains an affable sense of humor. That serves him well when taken under the companionable wing of Furio (Davide Calgaro), a friendly “loser” who wanted the lifeguard job that went to Ciro.
Camilla (Isabella Ferrari) has been questioning her own long-term relationship; she hopes to attend university in Canada, which would put an obvious crimp on things.
Everybody winds up in an amiable circle assembled by Mara, forever on the lookout for solid volleyball players who could help her team win an ongoing tournament. (Losers must jog the beach naked.)
Cue the ensuing complications:
The mildly clumsy Emma (Claudia Tranchese) pops up, having been sent by Violante to keep an eye on Ciro. She lands a restaurant job for which she’s wholly unsuited, and serves here as the “plain one” amid all the beautiful types.
Furio encourages Vincenzo to sign up on a dating app; Camilla, at loose ends, responds to his profile. Wanting to conceal his blindness, Vincenzo pretends that his phone camera is broken, and they communicate solely via text.
Encouraged by Tommy and Gualtiero, Marco confronts Guenda about her narcissism (the idea being, she’ll then “respect” him more). Alas, acting on this new awareness merely makes her reunite with the former boyfriend, which demotes Marco to her most trusted advisor. (“Bummer,” Tommy observes. “You’ve been friend-zoned.”)
While trying to crash an “under 30” nightclub party that Vincenzo attends — ostensibly to “keep him safe” — Irene is ejected by Lucio (Luca Ward), a ruggedly handsome bouncer who immediately takes a fancy to her.
Everything plays out in a fun, fluffy, mischievously sexy and wholly unthreatening manner. The actors are laid-back and likable; if their characters aren’t terribly deep, they’re at least distinct, and in most cases warm enough to deserve our sympathy and/or encouragement. It’s not hard to predict how folks will pair off, but that isn’t the point; the journey is just as engaging as the destination, particularly when set among Riccione’s beaches, water parks and colorful party scene.
The action is backed by a slew of larkish Italian pop songs (and I have to assume that the lyrics are less silly in their native tongue, than when translated into English). Speaking of such things, Netflix defaults to English subtitles anddubbing, and the latter is positively dire; be sure to switch to spoken Italian, or you’ll lose too much of the dialog’s emotional inflection and intensity.
Under the Riccione Sun may be modest, but it’s also thoroughly enjoyable.
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