Walking on Sunshine
U.K. 2014

Opening 25 Sep 2014

Directed by: Max Giwa
Writing credits: Joshua St Johnston
Principal actors: Hannah Arterton, Annabel Scholey, Giulio Berruti, Greg Wise, Leona Lewis

This film about two sisters in love with the same man is set to ’80s song and dance. While on holiday in Italy, Taylor (Hannah Arterton) got romantically involved with Raf (Giulio Berruti) but returned to England and didn’t keep in touch. Three years later her older sister Maddie (Annabel Scholey) rents a vacation home at the same beautiful beach in Puglia, and gets engaged to a young Italian. She has no idea that this is Taylor’s old flame and invites her unsuspecting sister to join her for a surprise whirlwind wedding. Predictably, neither Taylor nor Maddie’s ex-boyfriend Doug (Greg Wise) will be happy about this.

This ain’t no Mama Mia! (2008)! The soundtrack with well-performed hit songs like Walking on Sunshine and Girls Just Want to Have Fun and the attractive location is what little the movie has going for it. The dance scenes are uninspiring and crowded, the actors under- challenged and misdirected. Especially Giulio Berruti has been reduced to showing off his – admittedly gorgeous – physique as if performing in a commercial. Generally the film suffers from indecisiveness about the target audience. (Carola A)