La Dolce Villa

It’s a glossy fairy tale about Americans having lighthearted adventures in Europe, getting into scrapes and falling in love and charming the pants off all the locals.

Ultimately, “La Dolce Villa” is about as authentic an Italian experience as a night at the Olive Garden.

I really enjoyed the father/daughter dynamic and the romances were fun to watch.

The European adventure has a sweet and charming Hallmark-style energy that you can’t help but fall in love with. By the end, you’ll be ready to book your own Italian vacation.

Anyone expecting anything groundbreaking or subversive from La Dolce Villa should remind themselves that this is a straight-to-streaming romantic comedy wherein the biggest name in the cast is the guy from Scandal and Scream 3.

Despite following a now-established Netflix formula, this film still holds a few discreet attempts to diverge in the way it develops its characters and their relationships.

La Dolce Villa is a not unpleasant way to spend an hour and a half with Scott Foley and dreaming about living in an Italian villa. It’s no Merry Gentlemen, but it will keep you company while you cook up a nice pasta e fagoli.

…presumably satisfies the Netflix target audience, but La Dolce Villa is not the bellissima product that romance-seekers might hope for to complete their chill-out session…processed comfort-food rather than a meal prepared with genuine love…

The result is a mixed bag that I enjoyed occasionally, though its inability to spark a greater emotional reaction is the film’s greatest weakness. 


We get flimsy noodle-armed comedy, multiple instances of rom-com Interrupted Kisses and a marked dearth of chemistry between Placido and Foley.