The Engagement Ring

...this would be one of them. Sunny, cheesy and thoroughly enjoyable love-among-the-grapes farce surrounding two generations of volatile Italians in the Napa Valley. A bit schmaltzy, as you might expect, but not too much; and the script is excellent, with plenty of twists and some nice one-liners. Great performances from all 6 main stars (two triangles from different generations), particularly Lainie Kazan and Tony Lo Bianco as childhood sweethearts who never quite got together and have blamed each other ever since.

I had to put in my two-penn'orth on this one, because I've acted on stage a few times with the lady who played Nana, and it was great to see her in such a good movie.

Enjoyed viewing this picture from beginning to end and how two families growing grapes in Napa Valley could have such a strong love and hate relationship. The entire cast of actors gave outstanding performances and I thought that Patricia Heaton,(Sara Rosa) showed her real talents and even rode a horse around the vineyards. This engagement ring was given with great love and in a way, caused a great deal of hatred for many many years among these two families. There is lots of humor, drama and cute romance with husband and wife and some live together couples, getting to know each other. I really think this story of these two famines should be made into a TV series, or at least make up a TV program using most of these fantastic actors.

This is a very refreshing movie. The story is good and the characters are well developed. A very entertaining romantic comedy. Tells the story of two Italian families. One of them, the "De Rosa" wants to buy the "Di Cenzo" land to make a blend of grapes to produce a wine.

The is a history between the families for a engagement ring lost in the postal office which makes the unwilling one to sell the land and the other one to buy it. Sara De Rosa, talks to Tony Di Cenzo to try to convince his uncle to sell his part of the land but he says that he will only sell the land if she ( Alicia Rosa Anselmi) returns the ring to him in his hands.

This proves to be not so easy to be done. First the is the husband(who is very suspicious of the love of Alicia for him) who thinks that is a consolation price because she never gives hi, "the look".

Then the is Sara's boyfriend and fiancé Brian who is talking in the cell phone all the time. Last but not least Tony Di Cenzo is a young man who finds that Sara is more interesting and beautiful than usual.

While they try to arrange the meeting of the two families, in the cooking, the wine drinking and the recipes they find love.

I thoroughly enjoyed this light hearted comedy. Laine Kazan an Paticia Heaton made the movie work. The other actors were perfect for the script. This is the story of many typical Italian families. Grudges are held and in some cases, some people never speak to one another again. If they do "kiss" and make up, it will be spectacular.

The scenery was great, the food made my mouth water. I wish I could have tasted that wine Sara made. It sounded very special. Apparently agreed on by all of the family.

A think a follow-up would be another clever comedy which many folks could enjoy.

A delightful comedy of errors, much in the vein of "Moonstruck;" but in some ways funnier and more charming. The acting is less over-the-top than in "Moonstruck." It's Shakespearean in its Romeo & Juliet romance, and its comedic errors and misunderstandings. Its odd little plot twists cover a 40-year spoiled romance, an up-to-the minute romance, and provoke an old Italian grandmother into finally speaking, after 20 years of mourning in silence for her dead husband. Vincent Spano and Tony Lo Bianco are charming as uncle and nephew; and Lainie Kazan shines. Patricia Heaton (of "Everybody Loves Raymond") is fabulous. This is far better than most made-for-TV movies. I recommend it highly.