‘Solo Mio’ review: Kevin James stars in lukewarm Italy-set romcom

Have you dreamt of an Italian getaway … with Kevin James?

That’s what you get with “Solo Mio,” a simple and relatively pleasant but also decidedly mid romcom starring the comedic actor, best known for the sitcom “The King of Queens,” which ran for about a decade starting in the late 1990s.

James also wrote the movie — in theaters this week — with brothers Charles and Dan Kinnane, the sibling duo also handling directorial duties.

We meet art teacher Matt Taylor (James) at a seemingly wonderful time in his life, illustrated by camera-captured moments with girlfriend Heather (Julie Ann Emery). They culminate in a marriage proposal — with the nuptials to be in Italy — aided by students.

She enthusiastically accepts.

Then, in Rome, Heather abandons Matt at the altar.

She disappears from the church, leaving only an apologetic note, which sends Matt scrambling to find her. (He even gets on and off a plane, a not-so-smooth experience.)

Unable to recoup any of the money spent on a tour of the country built for newlyweds and a hotel’s honeymoon suite, Matt reluctantly takes the advice of the hotel’s concierge, Marcello (Alessandro Carbonara), to remain in Italy and attempt to enjoy the experience.

After some mild resistance, he accepts the friendships of two other men — just married, on the tour and staying on the same floor of the hotel, the scheming Julian (Kim Coates, recently of “The Walking Dead: Dead City”) and physical therapist (and wannabe mental health expert) Neil (Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus Christ on “The Chosen”). They’re not exactly in perfect unions themselves, with Meghan (Alyson Hannigan, “How I Met Your Mother”) and Donna (Julee Cerda, “The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers”), respectively, but they genuinely want to help Matt.

Potentially more impactful is the lift he gets from cafe owner Gia (Nicole Grimaudo), who shows the obviously down-on-his-luck American some much-needed kindness. (Well, the woman, whose English is a lot better than Matt’s Italian, not-so-kindly informs him that the app he’s been using to learn the language isn’t really getting him anywhere. But, still, she’s very nice.)

Of course, the pair spends much more time together, Matt helping her escape her ex by taking the extra seat on his previously half-occupied tandem bike and later agreeing to join him on a bus ride to Tuscany.

As constructed, all of this is sweet and mildly enjoyable while also surely forgettable, “Solo Mio” likely to prove to be the kind of movie you barely remember a couple of weeks after Valentine’s Day.

It’s obligatory for a romantic comedy to build to a big crash just as all is going so swimmingly, and “Solo Mio” does this dutifully. It also does it clumsily, the tension built around Matt hiding from Gia the exact reason he’s on this Italian trip alone. But, come on — he’s alone on a bike built for two, he’s hanging out with other couples. He even tells her, on a night in the closed cafe, when she makes him a delectable treat and shares some of her romantic past, that he was in a relationship that recently ended badly.

Oh well, the viewer is still treated to scenes filmed in Italy, many chock full of Roman architecture and other flavorful visuals.

And James certainly is a reasonably likeable lead character; he brings an amiable-everyman quality to Matt, who’s doing his best to roll with his quickly changing situation. Plus, James shares a decent enough chemistry with Italian actress Grimaudo (“A Perfect Day”), even though it’s tough to buy how quickly Gia becomes attached to Matt.

James, whose big-screen credits include “Hitch” (2005) and “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” (2007), clearly enjoys working with the content-generating Kinnane Brothers — who actually total seven and with him made scads of short comedies during the pandemic.

Charles and Dan previously directed “Home Team,” a Netflix sports comedy starring James as a football coach that was sacked by critics. Their work in “Solo Mio” isn’t painfully bad by any means, but the viewer can quickly drum up tweaks that would have made this a stronger piece of work.

“Solo Mio” begins with the lesson that “Lo voglio” is “I do” in Italian. You’ll likely want to say “Io non” — “I don’t” to “Solo Mio,” but let it down easily.

‘Solo Mio’

Where: Theaters.

When: Feb. 6.

Rated: PG for some suggestive material, brief language, violence and smoking.

Runtime: 1 hour, 37 minutes.

Stars (of four): 2.