Pizza & Amore

In a modern variation of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, the old tale of forbidden love is set in present day Verona, New Jersey where two Italian-American families, the Montebellos and the Prestolanis, run rivaling pizzerias and hold a grudge against each other. Naturally Joe, the son of the Montebellos (Eyal Podell), meets Gina, the daughter of the Prestolanis (Shiri Appleby), and warm feelings develop between them. In addition to the long-running mutual hatred between their families, Joe and Gina's romance is also hindered by their sense of responsibility to their folks: both are being pressured for pre-set careers despite longing to see more in life.

I guess you shouldn't expect much from a made-for-TV rom-com drama; but still, would just a hint of fresh ideas be too much to ask? The story advances exactly, and I mean exactly, as can be predicted right from the beginning. I actually suspected the laughably clichéd plot might be some kind of sarcastic parody of all the lame romance flicks that get churned out each year, but no, there's nothing to suggest that we aren't supposed to take it all at face value.

Besides the dull story, the other aspects don't provide much to enjoy either, even if technically the movie is not totally incompetent. The music further adds to the sea of clichés and the actors are just pretty faces with little charisma. The only exception would be the sturdy Michael Badalucco as Gina's father, but he isn't really given much decent material to work with, so it is difficult to find any reason to recommend Pizza My Heart to anyone but the biggest and most undemanding romance fans. All those tasty pizzas got me really hungry though; I guess that's a positive reaction.

This one was good, one of those family feud/star-crossed lovers stories influenced by "Romeo and Juliet", minus the melodrama and tragedy. The Montebellos and Prestalanis replace the Montagues and Capulets and Verona is now New Jersey rather than Italy and the war they're fighting is a pizza one! But the son in one family loving the daughter in the other, while her family has other matrimonial plans for her remains the same.

Add to it a secret love, (involving "Juliet's" sister), frustrated career ambitions, a misunderstanding, a near tragedy, an often-exasperated parish priest, and a few other ingredients and you get a fun pizza of a movie, not to be taken seriously, but leaving you wishing that real life could work out like this.

BTW: there's another movie based on this one, "Little Italy". PLEASE, don't waste your time on that loser and stick to the original!

I was skeptical about this new version of Romeo and Juliet. Not for idea, noble always, but for...ingredients. Two Italian families, makers of pizza, in terrible rivalry . They children fall in love one for other but parents, especially fathers... An opportunity , impliying a competition, not very fair at beginning , a fire and a wise priest are pieces of reconciliation and succes ...together - near second happy couple-.

I am not a fan of Shiri Appleby and in this film her character seems without salt of pepper. But I like Michael Badalucco and Natalija Nogulich as charming couple and I appreciate the effort of Eyall Podell as Romeo.

Not last, applauses for priest. And the conclusion - poor restaurants and splendid result of ashes.

This movie was not the worst movie of all time. It was a movie that at the end I wasn't sure whether I loved it or hated it. I have decided I loved it. It was a T.V movie so parts of it were cheesy but the plot was good, and it kept moving. It wasn't slow and most of the dialogue was clever. The acting was great. I think the actors portrayed the characters quite well. The downside to the movie was that it was very predictable. I didn't think it was necessarily a bad thing because it was a modern day Romeo and Juliet. There were some unexpected twists to the movie which kept it interesting and kept you guessing. Overall this was a great T.V-made movie.

Pizza My Heart

While it's not widely known, Christopher Columbus' voyage to America was initially a pizza delivery.

And while that factoid has been lost to history, this comedy assures America's obsession with pizza hasn't.

In fair Verona, New Jersey is where we lay our scene: two families, The Prestolanis (Michael Badalucco, Natalija Nogulich) and The Montebellos (Dan Hedaya, Gina Hecht), war with each other over who sells the best pie in town. But their long-standing feud is about to be turned on its head when Gina (Shiri Appleby) falls in love with her sworn enemy Joe. (Eyal Podell). The lovers must now bring peace to their pizzerias.

ABC Family's modern retelling of Shakespeare's tragedy, this 2005 movie-of-the-week is a goofy but guilty pleasure that tones down the calamity of the play and gives way to zaniness.

Lastly, when ordering from a Romeo and Juliet themed pizzeria, get them to hold the poison. Yellow Light

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