Love Is All There Is (1996)

In a small Bronx community, two rival Italian families who own restaurants compete with each other. One family (Joseph Bologna, Lainie Kazan) is gaudy and loud while they other (Paul Sorvino, Barbara Carrera) are snobbish but elegant. But when the gaudy family's son (Nathaniel Marston) and the elegant family's daughter (Angelina Jolie) fall in love, all hell breaks loose. Written and directed by the husband and wife Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna. Taylor and Bologna wrote LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS which had a similar wedding background. The material in this movie while not on a par with LOVERS isn't bad at all but the first film wasn't directed by Bologna or Taylor and I think that might explain why the first film is a better movie. LOVE IS ALL THERE IS might have worked better with a different director who showed a little restraint. Here, the Italian stereotypes are in full blown display and the directors let their actors go all over the place. Kazan and Taylor (who plays a psychic) are the worst offenders while Sorvino and Carrera manage to show some restraint. Angelina Jolie in only her 4th movie gets "and introducing" billing. She's lovely but there's no indication of the major talent that would come later. The large ensemble cast includes Connie Stevens, Abe Vigoda, Dick Van Patten, William Hickey and Joy Behar.