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‘Solo Mio’ and the Lost Art of Clean Rom-Coms
Have you heard that the rom-com is dead? The genre’s endangered status has been much discussed. Whether because of industry shifts toward IP-driven films, changing audience tastes, or a lower cultural tolerance of traditional guy-meets-girl romance, the sort of rom-coms many of us grew up on in the ’80s and ’90s seem like a rarer and rarer breed.
The rom-coms that do get made today tend to be raunchy and R-rated (think Judd Apatow’s mid-2000s hits like Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin), a bit too high-concept (like last year’s theologically mushy Eternity) or more rom-dram than rom-com (like last year’s Materialists or Song Sung Blue).
What I miss are the PG or PG-13 rom-coms that are sweet, funny, romantic, “old-fashioned” in their values, and relatively clean. Think Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, or While You Were Sleeping. Where are the rom-coms like that? I suspect I’m not alone in wishing Hollywood still produced them.
I’m all for more Jane Austen adaptations (2026 will give us a new Sense and Sensibility movie and a Netflix adaptation of Pride and Prejudice), but surely Georgian England isn’t the sole source of inspiration for this sort of fare?
‘Runaway Bride’ Meets ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’
Angel Studios’ Solo Mio (out today in theaters) is a step in the right direction. The PG-rated film—starring, cowritten, and produced by Kevin James—may not be an instant classic, but it’s a refreshing, old-school rom-com that, in its best moments, harks back to the genre’s heyday.
Released just in time for Valentine’s Day, Solo Mio is a date-night movie Christian couples don’t need to be nervous about—because it’s mercifully free of sex scenes and moral indiscretions, but also because it’s not embarrassingly cheesy. It’s a cut above the Hallmark-style formulaic romance, even though it has some of the elements that make those movies pleasurable.
Solo Mio is a date-night movie Christian couples don’t need to be nervous about.
The film opens on a sad note. Middle-aged elementary school teacher Matt (Kevin James), has seemingly found love and is about to marry fellow teacher Heather (Julie Ann Emery) at a destination wedding in Rome. But in a nod to another classic rom-com (Runaway Bride), Heather leaves Matt stranded at the altar and alone in Rome, heartbroken and confused.
Matt is left with an Italian “honeymooning couples” tour package he can’t get refunded, so he decides to take the vacation solo, hoping the blow of Heather’s decision is softened with enough Amatriciana and Chianti. What follows is essentially a gender-reversed, more chaste Under the Tuscan Sun. Matt begins to get his groove back when he befriends two American couples in his honeymooners tour group, as well as a friendly local café owner, Gia (Nicole Grimaudo), who may or may not become more than a friend to him.
James and Grimaudo shine in their roles, bringing real chemistry and gentle kindness (and a bit of world-weariness) to their characters. It’s refreshing to see a romance featuring middle-aged, normal-looking people whose relationship is believable.
Also noteworthy in the cast is Jonathan Roumie (The Chosen’s Jesus), who fills the familiar “wingman” supporting role trope as one of the fellow tourists in Matt’s group.
More Rom-Coms with These Qualities, Please
Solo Mio, directed by Catholic filmmaker brothers Charles and Daniel Kinnane, has commendable qualities I hope other Christian filmmakers seek to emulate:
A rom-com that’s chaste without being corny. The film doesn’t include sex or even any suggestion of sex. There’s actually a funny moment where the filmmakers play with audience expectations on that front, only to underscore that the less predictable, more interesting plot turn is the one where characters exercise sexual restraint.
Genuine appreciation for beauty. Filmmakers of faith often focus so much on plot that they give insufficient attention to the simple beauty of a film—the artistry of its setting, music, cinematography, and so forth. Solo Mio’s ambience is arguably the most beautiful part of the film. Rome and Tuscany are on gorgeous display, and the film makes space for an appreciation of life’s good gifts. La dolce vita.
Friendliness to faith without being “faith-based.” Solo Mio isn’t a faith-based film. But it’s a faith-informed and faith-friendly story where Christian virtues and culture are in the background. Late in the film, there’s a scene of praying before a family meal that doesn’t feel out of place at all.
Ability to depict real pain alongside real joy. I like movies that are genuinely funny and, at times, genuinely sad. But it’s hard to pull off, and faith-based movies tend to struggle to capture both low lows and high highs without it feeling cheap. Solo Mio captures the range of human emotions decently well, feeling honest without being over the top.
Solo Mio is far from perfect. The plot is far-fetched at times (even by Hollywood rom-com standards), the supporting characters are too cartoonish or one-dimensional, and the ending is fairly abrupt. But in a genre desperately needing a reset, Solo Mio is an enjoyable offering that manages to feel both family-friendly and “grown up.”
It’s the first romantic comedy Angel Studios has released, and I hope it’s a box-office success. In our cynical, profane, gender-polarized, marriage-leery contemporary world, we could use more wholesome, sincere rom-coms like this.
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