Accidental Friends (Amici per caso) may be colourful and warm, but sadly, it is also lazy and confused. There’s a genuinely outstanding cast at the heart of Max Nardari’s film, who give it their all, but their engaging and dynamic performances can’t overcome the problems inherent in this dated screenplay.
There are many ways to propose to a partner you love with all your heart: you can whip out a ring in a nice restaurant following an intimate meal, ask for their hand on a romantic weekend away, or you can wait for a private moment where it’s just the two of you. Of course, you could also go all-out with a flashmob, dance arrangement and a catchy pop tune in a public square in Rome like Andy (Rocco Fasano). But as we all know, that carries risks, as Andy is about to discover, when his long-term boyfriend, Omero (Filippo Tirabassi), says “No.” Omero has never been keen on a civil union and doesn’t understand why his relationship with Andy can’t continue as it has been. But for Andy, it’s the final straw, and as he packs his belongings, Omero’s only hope is that he might return once things have cooled off.
Andy and Omero’s relationship isn’t the only one on the rocks; across the city, the uber-masculine, uncouth, self-centred and football-mad Pietro (Filippo Contri) has ditched a date with his girlfriend on their anniversary of all days in favour of his true love, AS Roma, and Lolly (Beatrice Bruschi) has finally had enough! Pietro is given his marching orders and quickly realises he can’t cope without Lolly as he spends his first night on the couch of his football friend and workmate Caciara (Mirko Frezza).
Although they lead separate and very different lives, Omero and Pietro’s worlds are about to collide when Omero places an ad for a tenant to help him pay the bills, and Pietro moves in. But can a casually homophobic football fan and a young gay museum curator find an unlikely friendship through their shared relationship woes?
Coupling the classic misunderstanding and conflict of the TV sitcom with the tried and tested second-chance romance of the rom-com, director Max Nardari and fellow writers Alba-Maria Calicchio and Daniele Malavolta offer us a colourful and warm movie as two men, one gay, and one straight, form an unlikely bond in search of reconciliation with their respective partners.
However, Accidental Friends (Amici per caso) struggles to free itself from a host of lazy stereotypes that only cloud the intended overarching theme of building bridges across prejudicial divides. Too often, Accidental Friends (Amici per caso) feels like an ’80s throwback, with its messages on modern-day homophobia and heterosexual male identity confused, dated and, at times, damaging. Here, the straight man is a football-obsessed Neanderthal who needs the help of a cultured and sophisticated gay man to win back his girl. While I’m sure there are still men like Pietro out there, Nardari’s film offers no opportunity to explore a diversity of heterosexual masculine behaviours alongside those exhibited by Pietro, with every heterosexual male we meet being just another version of Pietro.
Equally problematic is the handling of Omero and Andy’s relationship, which ultimately feels underdeveloped, as Nardari opts to focus on Pietro and Lolly, and Omero’s role in bringing the straight lovebirds back together. Themes of gay civil union rather than marriage in Italy are hardly touched upon, and the feelings of Omero around civil union are skirted over in favour of lazy comedy set pieces, like Pietro arriving home drunk and waking up in his bed naked, only to think that Omero has had his wicked way with him. Ultimately, Omero and Andy are little more than plot devices for Pietro and Lolly in a movie that shies away from much of its gay rom-com potential in favour of a standard straight story.
Accidental Friends (Amici per caso) may be colourful and warm, but sadly, it is also lazy and confused. There’s a genuinely outstanding cast at the heart of Max Nardari’s film, who give it their all, but their engaging and dynamic performances can’t overcome the problems inherent in this dated screenplay.
Max Nardari’s “Accidental Friends” (Amici per caso) is screening at OUTshine Film Festival and is awaiting a UK-wide release date.
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