Everybody Wants to Be Italian (2007)

Critic Reviews

• Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

  A clarification is in order. Nobody wants to be these Italians.

• Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

  This lame-brain romantic comedy strives hard for a shambling charm, but is unlikely to prove appealing to even the most undemanding of audiences.

• Justin Chang, Variety

  A box of cannoli long past its sell-by date.

• Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

  Full of clunky humor, battle-of-the-sexes musings and spicy accordion music, Everybody Wants to Be Italian is relentless -- but not necessarily relentless fun.

• Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

  Constructed out of tired jokes, vaguely familiar actors and a few forced and predictable situations, it's strictly a harmless place-filler.

• Lou Lumenick, New York Post

  The film plays out pretty much exactly as you would expect -- which won't bother some people one iota.

• Marina Pliatsikas, FILMINK (Australia)

  While not being entirely original or clever in its exploration of modern Italian culture, it's a light-hearted film which delivers just enough giggles to keep it upbeat and kind of cute.

• Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile

  It's all a bit offbeat and as a consequence we are more than ready to chuckle and open up our hearts

• Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures

  Instead of making a likeable main character, the filmmakers give us the egotistical, brash, rude and obnoxious character of Jake.

• Micah Towery, Slant Magazine

  This particular film surely straddles the line between 'romp' and 'zany,' and maybe even deserves that most hallowed of accolades: 'zany romp.'

• Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

  A dreadful romantic comedy with totally unappealing characters.

• Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune

  If you thought the ethnic stereotyping in My Big Fat Greek Wedding was bad, this charmless romantic comedy will drive you to despair.

• Nick Schager, Cinematical

  [Sets] up hackneyed relationships, conflicts and resolutions with such a lack of imagination and subtlety that paying attention to narrative particulars quickly becomes a waste of time.

• Sean Gandert, Paste Magazine

  The film is a reminder why romantic comedies have died off so much in recent years.

• Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide

  Writer-director Jason Todd Ipson's romantic comedy is so awash in tired ethnic clichés that the story drowns.

• Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City

  It's pretty obvious. Everybody Wants to Be Italian wants to be the next My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Unfortunately, it doesn't have nearly as much charm as the 2002 sleeper. In fact, Italian doesn't have much charm to it at all.

• Anna King, Time Out New York

  Beantown provides a salty backdrop, but when the action shifts to Italy, it seems the budget didn't include airfares.

Read all 17 critic reviews