My Big Gay Italian Wedding

After Antonio (Cristiano Caccamo) pops the question to boyfriend Paulo (Salvatore Esposito) while they are both living in Berlin, the wedding is quickly a go, but that’s where the complications begin. Antonio—who has never told his parents that he’s gay—is dreading bringing Paolo to visit them in the small Italian town of his birth. Meanwhile, Paulo faces his own crisis at home: when he told his mother three years prior about his sexuality, she rejected him, and she is hardly likely to accept him now with his fiancé in tow. There’s also a second level of chaos: Antonio and Paulo’s sort-of-nutty friend Benadetta (Diana Del Bufalo) has hopped aboard this potential train wreck. And a good-natured but off-the-wall cross-dresser, Donato (a very funny Dino Abbrescia), has managed to insert himself into these private matters after meeting the others only days before. Untangling all of this and trying to salvage some semblance of goodwill towards the wedding becomes a huge task that realigns some relationships. Based on a 2003 off-Broadway musical, this sweet, screwball comedy is sharp and clever, with director Alessandro Genovesi clearly having fun. And armchair travelers will certainly enjoy the rural Italian sights. Recommended. (T. Keogh)