Bella Venezia

There was very little wrong with this one other than some gaps in storytelling that could have been fixed with an extra scene or two that were apparently left on the cutting room floor. And, set in Venice, Italy, it was beautifully photographed and a pleasure to gaze upon. Thankfully we were spared a depressing scientific lecture about rising seas and how the city is doomed. This was one of Hallmark’s foodie shows (yes romantic dough kneading and a tiny pinch of flour throwing were included) and the interiors and the food were also shown off to perfection. Great lighting throughout. The Italian leading man, was, of course, incredibly handsome, as they are, but he was also a good actor and very charming. As the leading lady, Stephanie Leonidas, was also very attractive and classy without the beauty pageant look of some of the other Hallmark regulars.

Amy is in charge of launching her company’s new venture which is home meal prep kits which, true to her health and wellness company’s brand, are packed with the supplements that they sell which supposedly boost metabolism, energy, immunity, and stuff like that. Her boss and head of the company, Naomi, at first comes across as an airy-fairy new-age guru type who exists on another plane entirely. But not for long. The Asian actress, whose name I could not find anywhere as of this writing, steals every scene she is in. While never letting her peaceful smile or her calm demeanor slip, it is not long before we see that she is pretty tough and no-nonsense. The word “steely” came to mind.

Unfortunately, for Blossom, the company, The meal kits do not taste good and take too long to make. After Amy tries to get the chef to work with their food scientist, known as Dr. Frankenfood, he quits in a temper tantrum. (typical Hallmark chef). Amy needs to fix the mess which leads her to recruit our hero, Marcello, a handsome (good for marketing), renowned, and respected chef to curate the kits and make them delicious while still loaded with supplements. He turns the job down in no uncertain terms without even hearing her offer. The meal kits go against his core beliefs about the art of cooking and food. He is all about fresh quality ingredients, no preservatives, and cooking with love and imagination. If the food was healthy, it wouldn’t need supplements! Amy decides to go to Venice (Without permission from Naomi! But doesn’t get in trouble!) to join his advanced cooking class so she can give him her “pitch.” The two fall in love over food and touring around Venice. It is not long before Chef Marcello wins Amy over to his way of thinking about food. There is a lot going on behind the scenes that we don’t see because we learn that surprisingly Naomi has led Amy to believe that the company will make enough concessions to Marcello’s way of thinking and let him work from Venice, to get him on board. Also one minute she is telling Amy to close the deal with the chef and get her butt back to New York pronto and the next, Amy is staying another 2 weeks to complete the course. I didn’t blame her for being tired of funding Amy’s 3 weeks in Venice with no progress on changing Marcello’s mind. I’d be suspicious and fed up as well. But we never see how or why Naomi changed her mind and let her stay. The side characters of Amy’s fellow students, one of which is famous British actress, Frances Barber, add interest as well as Marcello’s nice mother and father. Unfortunately, Amy herself is rather boring and personality-free.

Amy is finally ordered home and during the phone call, she finds out that her boss will not go “off-brand” to compromise on supplements nor accommodate Marcello’s insistence on curating the meals without moving to New York. Will Amy choose her life and career in New York, or love in beautiful Venice? The answer is to be found under The Bridge of Sighs.

I guess there is a lot I could pick apart in this movie, but I won’t because it was so nice to look at, and just nice in general. All of the actors were good, and none of the characters got on my nerves at all with silly or questionable behavior. So despite its contradictions and missing expositions, it was a pleasant watch.