Like “The Wedding Singer” and “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “The Best Man” mines the humor and heartbreak that emerge from last-minute pre-wedding doubts — this time, Italian-style.
Set in the northern Italian town of Sasso on the eve of the 20th Century, this bittersweet love story finds the lovely young bride, Francesca, with a severe case of cold feet on her wedding day. The daughter of a noble but financially strapped family, Francesca has been promised to her father’s wealthy friend, Edgardo, whose family has in turn promised to give her family a large loan. When her father explains to her that backing out at this point would mean financial ruin for him, she reluctantly re-agrees to go through with it.
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As preparations for the day’s events get under way, director Pupi Avati presents us with a series of crisp, gorgeous scenes illustrating Italian Catholic wedding rituals. These images inject the film with a rich cultural layer that make it as much historical anthropology as entertainment. They also emphasize the weight of tradition the bride carries on her shoulders.
Still, she prays for a savior to spare her from this loveless marriage — and he seems to appear in the guise of her groom’s recently chosen best man, Angelo, a Sasso-born millionaire who has just returned from America after 15 years. When their eyes meet at the church, it is love at first sight and for Francesca, the sign of a miracle.
This lovingly told story about the meetings of Old World and the new, the 19th and 20th Centuries and love marriages versus arranged ones, takes its time unfolding. But with so many handsomely shot scenes, sweet moments and charming comedic gumdrops along the way, the leisurely pace is a welcome one.
The nutty, nostalgic and slightly tragic tone of this film should be familiar to any fan of Italian cinema, while its themes of holding out for true love should be familiar to everyone. The acting ensemble pulls off a fine set of performances led by the quietly passionate Diego Abatantuono as Angelo and the luminescently beautiful Spanish actress Ines Sastre as Francesca. “The Best Man” opens Friday at The Fine Arts Theatre. MPAA rating: PG. (star) (star) (star)