Love's Brother (2004)

My husband saw this movie several years ago while on a plane bound for Germany. He has been talking about it ever since and finally tracked it down (Amazon.com), so that he could share it with me. Here in the U.S., the DVD format for this particular movie doesn't work on our DVD players, but we were able to change the DVD region setting in Device Manager on our computer and watch the DVD via laptop (you can only change this setting 4 or 5 times). I am so glad he finally found this movie! It is a real gem - sweet, innocent, and truly entertaining. It is a feast for the eyes as well as the soul. Another reviewer mentioned that Australian movies seem to get a bad rap, often being overlooked. How unfortunate! We would be thrilled if Hollywood would increase production of this type of film. I know other movies written by Jan Sardi have been available here in the States. I don't know why this one is not. That is truly a shame; so many people here are missing a great movie. If you're addicted to big-action crash 'em up, shoot 'em up, sexually explicit, adolescent toilet humor type movies, then this one probably won't appeal to you. However, if, like us, you enjoy gentle, heartwarming upbeat story lines with beautiful cinematography, acting, scenery and music, then be sure to watch this movie. It may even be "il destino"!

This film is so bad - dialogues, story, actors and actresses - everything! - that it's hard to imagine that we'll see a worse movie this year or in the following years. "Love's Brother" (set in Australia among Italian immigrants) has nothing but shallow clichés about Italian culture to offer, and it is quite telling that even the Italians from and in Italy speak ENGLISH in the film. The message of the film - ugly people have to marry ugly people, beautiful people have to marry beautiful people - is truly discomforting. Giovanni Ribisi is quite good in films like 'Suburbia' or 'Lost in Translation', but here his pseudo-Italian accent is hard to bear. See this film at your own risk. Trash as trash can!

There's a first time for everything, including directing a movie, and accomplished Australian scriptwriter (`Shine') Jan Sardi has not disgraced himself here. The plotline is corny (wrong brother's photo sent in marriage broking operation) and the approach stickily sentimental but things are saved by some good casting, quality acting and fine cinematography.As Angelo, the shyer brother who is looking for a bride from Italy, Giovanni Ribisi (last seen as the doltish husband in `Lost in Translation') combines the intensity of B A Santamaria with a remarkable amount of diffidence. Adam Garcia, hitherto mainly a song and dance man, plays the less screwed up younger brother Gino with abundant artless charm, and they combine very well to give us a picture of two very different but very devoted people. Rosetta the mail order bride, (Amelia Warner) is very beautiful and doesn't say a great deal which adds to her charm of course. There are also some strong performances from supporting players. Silvia de Santis, hair dyed blonde, is very effective as Gino's girlfriend Connie, and John Bluthal does an Italian version of his loveable old man persona. Eleanor Bron has a brief role as the marriage broker – no more improbable than an Italian siren from Liverpool (where Amelia Warner hails from). It was also worth the price of admission to see Barry Otto as a Catholic Priest blessing a newly installed espresso machine.Andrew Lesnie, responsible for the cinematography in the Lord of the Rings series, gives us one or two unusual camera angles, but by and large keeps things very pretty. He apparently looked at `Il Postino' to get some pointers on how to shoot an `Italian' movie. (That film was actually directed by an Englishman, Michael Radford.) Daylesford, Victoria, and its surrounds are shown to their advantage, certainly more so than the Italian village used for Rosetta's home town. The Italians shown here who migrated to Australia are a jolly lot; most of them seem to think Australia is heaven compared to Italy. The film is set circa 1958 but even 40 years later it looks like they made the right decision. They certainly did wonders for Australian coffee drinking.

Love's Brother is full of charm, warmth and lots of coffee. Coincidently I was drinking an espresso in the cinema while watching this movie!I really hope that the nationality of this film (Australian) doe not deter people away from it. I love and support our wonderful industry down here but as a video store manager I am seeing an increasing amount of people who read video covers and say "Oh, but it's Australian". This movie works as an international movie. It's location is not of too much significance... it could have been set in Canada somewhere and it would not have mattered. Besides, there are no 'Ocker' Aussie accents in this movie anyway. It's a movie about Brotherly love as well as it's differences. A story about tangled love and mistaken identity. And above all it's a story about Coffee!!.... nah not really... the coffee just provides an excellent means of comic relief, as the locals seem to need it like a car needs petrol.At the risk of sounding cliche, Do Yourself a Favor and see this movie. It's a beautiful film that should proudly sit beside other classics like: Chocolat, Like Water for Chocolate, and Il Postino. It's likely to only have a limited Theatrical Release so rush out and catch it before it's too late... otherwise wait anxiously for the dvd.I give it 8 out of 10.