Made In Italy (DVD)

Made in Italy is a heart-warming comedy, set in glorious Tuscany, about bohemian London artist Robert (Liam Neeson) who returns to Italy with his estranged son Jack (Micheál Richardson) to make a quick sale of the house they inherited from his late wife.

A successful and ambitious art gallery manager, Jack faces the possibility of losing all that he has built as his wife Ruth (Yolanda Kettle) plans to leave him, taking his beloved gallery with her. Jack's only hope is to make a quick sale of the old family villa in Tuscany, but if he is to do so, he must reconnect with his estranged father, Robert - a task easier said than done.

Robert and Jack travel to Italy; a place they once called home, but now an empty shell that for Jack brings only faded memories of a broken childhood. Window frames slip from their hinges and murky water erupts from rusty taps as the jaw of estate agent Kate (Lindsay Duncan) hits the floor in disbelief at the challenges that lie ahead. Robert's dire lack of DIY skills becomes an immediate obstacle and Jack's optimism begins to falter. He retreats to the local town and, almost literally, bumps into vivacious restaurant owner and single mother, Natalia (Valeria Bilello).

Robert marshals a team of colourful, pizza-fuelled workmen to give the villa a hasty renovation and back in Natalia's restaurant, as they gather for a traditional film screening in the town square, the locals begin to recall Robert and Jack's family - and the tragedy that broke it apart.

The shutters begin to open to the Tuscan warmth, but as Jack finally tries to confront his grief over the day that changed his life, it seems that Robert too has kept secrets in the villa. Robert and Jack must finally be honest with one another if they are to paint a future together.