I would have prefered if the couple were more the focus of the film...but I liked the low key tone and the two leads are refreshing... not every culture will understand the concept of ( promised ) but I come from a culture that has arranged marriages ...my fav thing was the first time female lead...what a lovely lady..she looks like a young tina arena.....I will wait to see her in more projects
18 Reviews
Italian tradition upheld in Australia?
graceoverpressuretheoneANDonly4 September 2022
The beginning was somewhat confusing - I THINK it started with two Italian families and their "promised" marriage tradition involving one's son and the other's daughter, but was played out in the country of Australia. That said? I thought the lead actors "father" actors were very good and kept to their "Italian" heritage. A little disappointed in the mothers/wives however, not quite as well played as the fathers. The son was a fine actor though showing the patience and tolerance of a "saint" and perhaps? Not as much backbone as I would have assumed he had. Angela, the daughter, performed gracefully BUT with a greater "voice" and that made the prospective union far more interesting - that she had a voice yet went along with Daddy's wishes - even over the threats/abuse/investigation made regarding her former boyfriend. The plot moved along nicely and I guess the best you could say about this archaic tradition of other cultures (including Italian) was that it played out against all odds. Charming. Entertaining. Interesting leads.
Watchable But Not the Greatest
anitalansing-40-58191527 February 2022
What were you doing?
five_ratbags7 August 2023
An okay storyline but what on earth was that script, and the direction? Sadly it's up there with the worst Aussie movies I've seen.
Too much 'dead air' between corny or bland lines, and some of the worst acting from all but the two leads (Not Paul & Tina) - they couldn't even save this mess. Slow has heck to watch and nothing to make up for that.
I love Tina Arena as a singer and performer but this was hard to watch, please stick to singing ... and Paul seemed sedated or something?
The story had possibilities but the script and in particular the actors lines and poorly shot scenes, let it down. Just don't bother - you will regret the wasted hours.
Too much 'dead air' between corny or bland lines, and some of the worst acting from all but the two leads (Not Paul & Tina) - they couldn't even save this mess. Slow has heck to watch and nothing to make up for that.
I love Tina Arena as a singer and performer but this was hard to watch, please stick to singing ... and Paul seemed sedated or something?
The story had possibilities but the script and in particular the actors lines and poorly shot scenes, let it down. Just don't bother - you will regret the wasted hours.
Poorly scripted tosh
marcons6026 June 2021
Very pleasant
wmorewhit30 October 2019
I really enjoyed this movie because it was very pleasant to relax with. Very likeable characters. You really need to concentrate towards the end or you'll miss a crucial part because it's so quick. A nice Aussie film.
A woman is a child, and daddy knows best
victorvoga4 February 2021
According to this movie a woman is scared of a male authority so much that she doesn't show any resistance to the pressure of the expectations what she's expected to do and decides it is the best to listen and follow the request from her father and she does this so quickly and easily and it ultimately leads to her realization that parents know what's best for her: who she should marry and how she should lead her life which is cleaning the house and learning how to cook for her man - among other "female duties." One minute she is at the college and literally the next day she wants to learn how to cook for arranged husband while being forced to leave her beloved fiancee?! 😅
This is a heaven movie for all those parents who practice arranged marriages. Thanks to them this movie didn't get zero stars.
This is the most appalling anti-feminist unrealistic fairytale - excuse me, a movie - I have ever seen.
I will never watch another movie from this director or any cast responsible for this demeaning story about woman's place in this world where she has no saying. The movie also presented a heterosexual male as a brainless puppet and a coward.
What movie should be next for this director? Realization that women should renounce their right to vote and listen to men ?! 😡
This is a heaven movie for all those parents who practice arranged marriages. Thanks to them this movie didn't get zero stars.
This is the most appalling anti-feminist unrealistic fairytale - excuse me, a movie - I have ever seen.
I will never watch another movie from this director or any cast responsible for this demeaning story about woman's place in this world where she has no saying. The movie also presented a heterosexual male as a brainless puppet and a coward.
What movie should be next for this director? Realization that women should renounce their right to vote and listen to men ?! 😡
Love love love this movie
savvycobb2 February 2021
This was a wonderful film
The only reason why I had to give it an 8 out of 10 is because the characters accents were so deep and thick that I had to struggle to understand what they were saying and they were talking so fast and so low at times so I had to rewind several several times and rewatch parts but other than that it's a beautifully written and beautifully executed movie directed fantastically.
Failed Promise
mykl_tour7 November 2023
What a wasted opportunity. The Italian-Australian story especially during the 1950-60's is incredibly fascinating but this is not it. There are so many technical issues in the production. The script is all over the place. Direction directionless. The editing is a slog... the casting... what a mess. I could barely keep on track with the plot which is a lot of credit to even call it a plot.
Tina Arena does a lot of heavy lifting. Such a waste and she is a great advocate for the Italian-Australian story; herself being a one of the most iconic Italian Australians who pioneered the rise of Italian pride.
Mercurio can barely get his mouth around the most basic Italian phrases.
The rest are forgetable.
Hopefully someone can tell the Italian-Australian story with the same success as shows like 'My Brilliant Best Friend'.
Tina Arena does a lot of heavy lifting. Such a waste and she is a great advocate for the Italian-Australian story; herself being a one of the most iconic Italian Australians who pioneered the rise of Italian pride.
Mercurio can barely get his mouth around the most basic Italian phrases.
The rest are forgetable.
Hopefully someone can tell the Italian-Australian story with the same success as shows like 'My Brilliant Best Friend'.
Two halves
Jackbv12320 January 2024
This is not a rom/com. I can't say there is any comedy. So I was probably set up to dislike this movie because I expected it to be a kind of opposite to a fake boyfriend/marriage story, but some funny situations. Definitely not. For one thing, a good half of the movie was something like one of those slave bride stories you hear about in Africa except without the abuse or forced consummation. (Robert never forces physical intimacy.) Nevertheless the first half just made me angry for what they were doing to Angela.
But I had problems beyond that. There was never any chemistry between the leads. I never understood why Angela would love Robert. To make matters worse, so many things happen in the last third or quarter of the movie and it was confusing. At one point there are flashbacks mixed with the current period and things bouncing around. It was very confusing.
I depend a lot on closed captions especially when there are ethnic accents. My closed captions missed somewhere between 1 in 5 and 1 in 10 lines especially at critical points. I did rewind a whole bunch of times and still had trouble picking up the words without the CC.
From the beginning I had no respect for Robert. It didn't help my early impressions that a few things weren't explained until later about what went on between Robert and his dad before the wedding. Even knowing what is revealed later, I still see Robert as weak, but early on I couldn't believe how much of a wimp he seemed. (I never liked Tom.)
Angela was very appealing, but I did wonder what kind of skill set she would have if she had to leave home.
I wanted a rom/com but even given that there was never and "com", I wanted romance and there was too little of that.
But I had problems beyond that. There was never any chemistry between the leads. I never understood why Angela would love Robert. To make matters worse, so many things happen in the last third or quarter of the movie and it was confusing. At one point there are flashbacks mixed with the current period and things bouncing around. It was very confusing.
I depend a lot on closed captions especially when there are ethnic accents. My closed captions missed somewhere between 1 in 5 and 1 in 10 lines especially at critical points. I did rewind a whole bunch of times and still had trouble picking up the words without the CC.
From the beginning I had no respect for Robert. It didn't help my early impressions that a few things weren't explained until later about what went on between Robert and his dad before the wedding. Even knowing what is revealed later, I still see Robert as weak, but early on I couldn't believe how much of a wimp he seemed. (I never liked Tom.)
Angela was very appealing, but I did wonder what kind of skill set she would have if she had to leave home.
I wanted a rom/com but even given that there was never and "com", I wanted romance and there was too little of that.
Conflicting intellectual property
jamesnewmanwaigi9 December 2021
This movie plot has a striking resemblance with a poem I wrote back in 2018 called 'her' which I published in Wattpad. I saw it the other day and I could not stop wondering if it was adapted from that poem without my knowledge. Generally I enjoyed the film.
Wonderful feel good movie with a great message
aarinnkumarmishra18 August 2020
Thank you for making this amazingly pleasant movie. I felt so happy while watching it. The background music brought life to every scene. The background art and set pieces were just so heartwarmingly soothing. The actors were just perfect. The actress looked so beautiful. The guy playing Robert brought the innocence & turmoil within the character to his face (especially during the silent moments).
I loved how it was directed. Quite unique! It totally made me dive into the story.
Above everything, I loved the brilliant message.
The ONLY positive movie about "Arranged marriage".
afterdarkpak24 September 2020
Some really decent performance, well written and directed , good production quality. and somehow satisfying ending but it could be more better.
.the movie has no vulgar dialogue , no nude or dirty scenes. its pure simple , classic family drama. Its a movie about "arranged marriage" basically. a marriage with no feelings?. even the families of both bride and groom are decent and civilised. there are no such things that they are very bad to their children.
there are very minor flaws in the movie , especially when she has bf and IN LOVE with him but she also has a little crush on fiance ? because in a scene where man's uncle told him to dance with her in a party , she got pissed or jealous and went to dance by herself. so it seems that she has some feelings for fiance too which is ODD?
This situation of " arranged marriage" happens in many 3rd world or under develop countries like india, Pakistan , Nepal, Bangladesh, srilanka , and many muslim countries. and most arranged marriages has more success that conventional love marriage (like in so called civilised western countries). But anyhow, love is important but what more important is loyalty ,faith , honesty and responsibility.
.the movie has no vulgar dialogue , no nude or dirty scenes. its pure simple , classic family drama. Its a movie about "arranged marriage" basically. a marriage with no feelings?. even the families of both bride and groom are decent and civilised. there are no such things that they are very bad to their children.
there are very minor flaws in the movie , especially when she has bf and IN LOVE with him but she also has a little crush on fiance ? because in a scene where man's uncle told him to dance with her in a party , she got pissed or jealous and went to dance by herself. so it seems that she has some feelings for fiance too which is ODD?
This situation of " arranged marriage" happens in many 3rd world or under develop countries like india, Pakistan , Nepal, Bangladesh, srilanka , and many muslim countries. and most arranged marriages has more success that conventional love marriage (like in so called civilised western countries). But anyhow, love is important but what more important is loyalty ,faith , honesty and responsibility.
Pleasantly surprised
moviebuff_Bigsky29 December 2021
I thought given the low ratings that this was a boring movie. But on a rainy day when I had nothing to do I started this one on Tubi and this movie completely charmed me! Very lovable characters and what a sweet story! Don't go by the bitter feminist's review here, go take a look, this movie will supervise you too in a living way! Promise!!
Once is not enough
michael-5246110 November 2019
OMG
amarnold-5245329 December 2022
Warning: Spoilers
I love this movie. What a great film!!!! Not every culture has arrange marriages but because of this movie I now find the concept fascinating. The lead male character, Robert, was great. He stole every scene that he was in, in my opinion. Every emotion played out on his face. I was so proud of him for staying away and resisting the temptation of his secretary & for having the upmost patience with his wife. Angela, was a handful. My heart broke for her when she couldn't marry the man that she loved. I am so glad that they were able to work things out and I am so glad that Angela learned to love him.
Decent so far...
tom-496-5221062 June 2022
I'm about a third of the way in, and I have to agree with some of the other comments.
1. The dialogue has quite a bit of Italian, which is not translated in captions, and totally ignored in closed captions. So far, it's not a deal-breaker, but I wonder what I'm missing.
2. While I think it's more of a description of slice of society that existed in the 70s, and probably has echoes today, I can see the point of those disappointed in the lack of internal strength in the main couple by not standing up to their fathers. It is more a tale of picking your battles, that life is not fair, and that sometimes parents and children have differing understandings of love and parental guidance.
3. As a period piece, the writer/director gives us a wonderfully detailed view into their concept of this societal expectation.
I look forward to finding time to finish it. Thanks.
1. The dialogue has quite a bit of Italian, which is not translated in captions, and totally ignored in closed captions. So far, it's not a deal-breaker, but I wonder what I'm missing.
2. While I think it's more of a description of slice of society that existed in the 70s, and probably has echoes today, I can see the point of those disappointed in the lack of internal strength in the main couple by not standing up to their fathers. It is more a tale of picking your battles, that life is not fair, and that sometimes parents and children have differing understandings of love and parental guidance.
3. As a period piece, the writer/director gives us a wonderfully detailed view into their concept of this societal expectation.
I look forward to finding time to finish it. Thanks.
Do parents know best?
rachelnardo-0296712 June 2022
Many cultures and religions continue to arrange their children's marriages, regardless of the offspring's age: Italians, Greeks, Jews, yada yada. You're kidding yourself if you think these women are weak or always submissive.
This movie is a realistic view into those traditions. It is a sweet love story about negotiating the social complexities and expectations of family and self, whether or not the marriage is arranged.
I rated it an 8 because the dramatic characterizations and emotional dynamics seemed narrow in range-too underdeveloped and somewhat bland in the promised couple. Considering the situation and period of this piece, the characters were understated and the cinematography lacked richness of place.
Maybe that's Melbourne? Certainly not like the NYC Italians in my family, but I still enjoyed the actors and a glimpse into this story world. It's as old as time.
This movie is a realistic view into those traditions. It is a sweet love story about negotiating the social complexities and expectations of family and self, whether or not the marriage is arranged.
I rated it an 8 because the dramatic characterizations and emotional dynamics seemed narrow in range-too underdeveloped and somewhat bland in the promised couple. Considering the situation and period of this piece, the characters were understated and the cinematography lacked richness of place.
Maybe that's Melbourne? Certainly not like the NYC Italians in my family, but I still enjoyed the actors and a glimpse into this story world. It's as old as time.
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