There’s more than just a house to fix up in Made in Italy, the feature debut of writer/director James D’Arcy.
Robert wasn’t expecting his son’s strange request to fix up their Tuscany house for sale, but really, he wasn’t expecting much contact from his son at all. They weren’t exactly close and the house wasn’t exactly in good shape, so the task would require them to spend more time together than they had in years. He packs up and heads out anyway, and as expected, the pair finds themselves in over their heads with a rotting house and a rotting family that both need plenty of attention.
The absence of the dead matriarch promises to loom over everything in this film, as it certainly will in any meta-analysis of it. Casting real-life father-son pair Liam Neeson and Micheál Richardson begs for it when remembering the death of their wife/mother Natasha Richardson.
Then again, D’Arcy seems to have taken the premise in a lighter direction, putting in plenty of comedy to alleviate the proceedings. Hopefully, the father and son can capture the jovial aspects of their relationship as well as the tragic, which would provide a nice crutch for actor-turned-writer/director D’Arcy to lean on as he navigates moving behind the camera.
Made in Italy is directed by James D’Arcy and stars Liam Neeson, Micheál Richardson, and Valeria Bilello. It will be released in the US in theaters and VOD on August 7th, 2020. For international release dates, click here.
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