Tag: italian

“Petra” Season 2 – TV Series Review

A scene from the Italian TV crime series “Petra” Season 2. Courtesy of MHz Choice

It’s been three years since I reviewed the earlier episodes of the entertaining Italian procedural, “Petra.” This round not only provides a pleasant return to its picturesque Genoa setting, but gives us an engaging evolution of the eponymous star. Here’s the usual refresher link: https://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2022/11/petra-tv-series-review/

We rejoin Petra and Antonio after they’ve been on a long (by US standards) vacation. She stayed home alone with her pet tarantula – as would, of course, be her wont. He indulged in the uncharacteristic luxury of a long cruise, meeting a woman he adored (Beatrice, played by Manuela Mandracchia). But middle-aged shlub that he is, Antonio felt under-qualified to keep it going on land, since she was one of the VERY wealthy elite of the community. The class gap seemed to bother him, far more than her.

A more significant change manifests in Petra. She’s finally unpacked all those cartons from her move and filled that drab apartment with nice furnishings. Yet there’s still no artwork adorning the institutional gray walls. Baby steps towards normalcy. She’s opened up her personality appreciably, smiling and joking more than before. She’s still relationship-averse, assuming anything serious would end badly… again.

This second season has more heart, with greater emphasis on character development and personal story arcs, romantic and otherwise. Besides the spider, Petra continues another idiosyncrasy that fans of our “Quincy” series will recognize – keeping a memento from the clues at the end of each solved case.

But now to address the main course – the murders to be solved. As before, each 90-minute episode addresses new crimes, so bingeing isn’t as important for following the proceedings. In the first, a guy she meets from the web for a “zipless… shall we say, boink” turns up the next day as the season’s first murder victim. She keeps that one-nighter a secret for a while, so she’ll be allowed to stay on the case. It turns out that he was married with two kids and a complex set of personal and business activities, leaving a whole lotta motives and possible murderers to sort through. The second episode begins with a homeless guy in an alley being killed by a bullet, then brutally kicked by skinheads. Are those loathsome louts the culprits? Or was there more in the man’s pre-destitution life that caused his demise, along with others that followed?

The third episode begins with the murder of a dude in a jester costume during the colorful festivities of Carnival. Since everyone frolicking in the crowded street was in costume, ID’ing the killer wasn’t helped much by footage from surrounding street cams. The solution had to be extracted from old business with old friends/frenemies as well as recent events. The last episode revolved around sex trafficking and prostitution – mainly affecting the lives of minors.

Though there are moments of levity along the way, these are all handled as dramas, without the comedy side of other Italian favorites like “Detective Montalbano,” “Makari” or “Monterossi.” Three of the four cases were harder to figure out than one. It would be interesting to know which episode any of you find to be the weakest mystery link in the chain. Perhaps your mileage will vary.

What I’d previously described as a miniseries turned out to be two four-episode seasons that end in a satisfactory place for most of the principals (i.e. no cliffhangers), but leaves the door open for a third season. Since this quartet aired abroad in 2023, which was three years after the first foursome, it’s quite possible that more will follow. Fine with me if that’s the way the renewal winds blow.

“Petra” Season Two, mostly in Italian with English subtitles, begins streaming on MHz Choice starting Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

“Vanina: Season One” – TV Series Review

A scene from Italian police drama “Vanina: Season One.” Courtesy of MHz Choice

The light Italian police procedural “Vanina: Season One” is designed for those who seek a higher ratio of character development to crime solving in their entertainment choices. Vanina (Giusy Buscemi, who looks nothing like Steve, thankfully) is an attractive (former Miss Italy – the actress, not the character) thirty-something who heads a homicide unit in Catania. Seven months before the series begins, she’d moved there from Palermo, where she’d been an anti-Mafia superstar and paramour of leading prosecutor Paolo (Giorgio Marchesi). That success unfortunately generated more heat from the Mafiosi in her professional and personal “kitchen” than she could stand. Vanina had witnessed her beloved dad being whacked by them when she was 15 and sensed her hot streak against them created too large of a reboot risk for her and Paolo. So, she moved away from love and career arc to find an emotionally manageable substitute.

The four nearly two-hour episodes of Season One are separate cases, with unfolding subplots and character arcs for most of the cast. The first case began with poisoned ice cream and the death of their equivalent of our Ben and/or Jerry. In the second, the remains from a 50-year-old murder are suddenly discovered, leading to serious present-day consequences. The third swirls around criminal activity by a criminal lawyer for other criminals, including the very-criminal Mafia. The fourth begins with the murder of an international businessman who had more dubious connections than any one person should have.

But the plots are relatively unimportant, compared to the stories of the players. Vanina is torn between her lingering love for Paolo, and a new potential romance with an almost unbelievably empathetic doctor, Manfredi (Corrado Fortuna). One of her detectives, Marta, (Paola Giannini) is interesting enough to warrant her own spin-off. Others have an assortment of personal issues and crises sufficient to stuff a telenovela.

All of these sub-stories would have been too soapy for my taste but for the excellent casting, performances and quality of the writing. The more time we spend with them, the more we like and care about them. And this is coming from a guy with little patience for melodrama. The scripts are by Leonardo Marini, based on books by Cristina Cassar Scalia. The mysteries are typically complicated, with solutions that are mostly elusive enough for satisfying suspense. There’s less comic relief than other Sicily-based series I’ve reviewed like “Makari” or “Detective Montalbano.” No nudity or prolonged sex scenes, but relatively generous on eye candy for TV fare – especially in the first episode. Although the cops brandish guns frequently, I don’t recall a single shot being fired. The murders occur off-camera, and views of the stiffs are minimal.

The Sicilian locations provide a diverse range of lovely enhancements to the action therein. No cliffhangers, but a few significant unresolved plot points beg for a Season Two. Since this just aired abroad in 2024, it seems quite likely that more is yet to come, which I will welcome if and when that happens.

“Vanina: Season One.” in Italian with English subtitles, debuts streaming on MHz Choice on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

“Makari” Season 3 – TV series review

A scene from the Italian light murder mystery series “Makari.” Courtesy of MHz Choice

It’s been almost two years since I reviewed the earlier seasons of this light, charming Italian murder mystery series, “Makari,” set in sunny Sicily. I encourage you to read the prior reviews to refresh your memory (as did I), to better understand the players and relationships for this third season. Here’s the link to that review: https://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/2023/07/makari-season-2-tv-series-review/.

This round includes four separate cases, with some significant story arcs running throughout. The episodes are a bit longer than before – each about 2 hours – but the light tenor of the series continues. Peppe helps Saverio with everything, while providing the rest of us with the comic relief of his clumsy, overly-friendly puppy personality.

This year, Saverio is enjoying some success as a novelist, leading to his being offered a guest teaching position at a nearby school. The students couldn’t possibly be less interested in books at the start. But he, of course, wins them over. Suleima has completed her architecture studies and is working on a project for Saverio in their eponymous village of Makari. Their blissful co-habitation is threatened when an old beau of hers, Guilio (Eugenio Franceschini), suddenly appears with a sob story of failed romance that makes him turn to his former best friend for solace. He becomes a thorn in Saverio’s side throughout the season, as ulterior motives emerge.

In the first episode, Saverio is asked for help from an old girlfriend who is being sued by another of his exes; one of their husbands is killed, making the other’s a prime suspect. Suleima becomes suspicious that one or both of the women might still have the hots for her guy. In the second, the restoration of a nearby village leads to sharply divided factions among the locals on its direction; one side demands emphasis on historical purity; the other wants to create more of an active arts center. That results in one of the leaders gettin’ hisself kilt. Also, it starts to appear as if the foxy teacher Michela (Serena Iansiti) who recommended Saverio to the school may have more intimate aspirations.

The third is both the funniest and most irritating of the lot, as Suleima’s parents arrive unexpectedly to also stay in their house. Her overbearing dad still thinks of Giulio as the son he never had, and the son-in-law he should have had, fawning over him endlessly, while criticizing and nitpicking at everything about Saverio. That drags on alongside a vendor’s murder at a major book festival. The last episode takes place at a swanky spa that may not be the miraculous new-age health and healing operation that it purports to be. Naturally, while our little crew of protagonists is there, a doctor turns up dead. As has happened several times in the series, Saverio first has to convince the cops that it wasn’t an accident before working towards a solution.

As before, the series thrives on Saverio’s easygoing charm and Peppe’s levity, plus the rocky course of his love for Suleima. The mystery element continues to remain well-written, maintaining suspense throughout each. No need to binge, but watch them in order to follow the course of several relationships. By the end, you’ll likely join me in hoping for a fourth season.

“Makari” Season Three, mostly in Italian with English subtitles, begins streaming on MHz Choice on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

“Fosca” Season 2 TV Series Review

A scene from the Italian TV series “Fosca.” Courtesy of MHzChoice

In the first season of “Fosca Innocenti” we followed the light mystery adventures of the eponymous Deputy Police Chief (Vanessa Incontrada) and her mostly-female team of detectives in the picturesque Tuscany city of Arezzo (where the series is filmed). Each of the four 100-minute episodes presented a different case, with ongoing subplots for the principals. Some were romantic. The major one was Fosca’s barely-repressed desire to transcend her lifelong Friend Zone status with Cosimo (Francesco Arca). But the charming café owner was planning to emigrate to the U.S. for a major career advancement, further reducing her odds of securing that upgrade. The scripts were appropriately suspenseful while developing a likable set of protagonists and making fine use of the beauty of the setting. For a unique element, Fosca’s acute, almost canine, sense of smell helps solve the crime in many of the episodes.

At the end of Season One, it looked like Fosca and Cosimo just might become a couple. Season Two picks up from there, with the two seeming blissfully happy, nestled into the magnificent estate she’d inherited from her adored father. But how dull would that idyllic state be for another quartet of adventures? Impermissibly is the answer. That’s when Lapo (Giovanni Scifoni), Fosca’s beau from 20 years earlier, shows up with a deed indicating that her dad had signed the property over his dad! Lapo’s coming home after a long absence to claim the mansion, grounds and contents, forcing her out so he can list it for sale. It soon becomes apparent that his underlying agenda is winning her back with a combination of this leverage and triggered nostalgia.

But wait! There’s more! Rosa (Cecilia Dazzi), the married member of the team, discovers that her long-term hubby is cheating on her. Lesbian Giulia (Desiree Noferini) runs through a handful of affairs, of which one is particularly frustrating. Pino (Francesco Leone), the only guy in the crew, finds himself torn between his fiancée who has moved to Sicily, imposing a difficult long-distance romance, and Rita (Caterina Signorini), the cute new member of the staff, who also seems drawn to him.

As for the crimes, the first involves a bride fallen or pushed from a window hours before tying the knot with the owner of a large vineyard. The second centers on a seamstress murdered in a dress shop, exposing a mare’s nest of secrets from her past, greatly expanding the suspect pool. The third gives us the attempted murder of Fosca’s neighbor and close friend, from which a successful offing ensues. The fourth puts us in the middle of crimes among those in the perfume industry occurring during a major trade show.

For Season Two, the producers switched to a different writer and director from those who crafted the first. It shows. This round shifts the running time balance considerably more to the personal stories than the subject crimes they’re solving. Depending on your preferences, that could be a plus by getting deeper insights about, and empathy with, the set of protagonists; or you might think their cluster of romantic story arcs veers too heavily into soap opera territory. There’s little nudity or on-screen violence, making the melodrama more prominent.

The season ends with reasonable closure for all the plot threads, making the package satisfying as an intact miniseries, if it’s over. Since it aired only last year, it’s still early enough for the cast to be around for a Season Three. I’d welcome it – especially if they return to more time for the crime.

“Fosca: Season 2,” in Italian with English subtitles, is available streaming starting Tuesday, June 18, on MHzChoice.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

THE SHADOW OF THE DAY – St. Louis Jewish Film Festival Review

Riccardo Scamarcio as Luciano and Benedetta Porcaroli as Anna, in THE SHADOW OF THE DAY. Courtesy of Memensha Films and the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival

THE SHADOW OF THE DAY is a hauntingly beautiful tale of love and sacrifice in wartime, a story of two people unfolding against the backdrop of fast-shifting events in the run up to WWII. This is an excellent film, a well-crafted, powerfully-told tale that evokes classic films with it’s strong characters and riveting performances, and a mix of romance, heartache, suspense and tension. With strong storytelling, gorgeous production values and powerful, moving, layered performances, THE SHADOW OF THE DAY is one of the highlights of the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival.

Set in Italy in the 1930s in a small town, the story revolves around a middle-aged Italian man, Luciano (Riccardo Scamarcio) who manages an elegant restaurant, who notices a worried young woman (Benedetta Porcaroli) who has been hanging around the front of the restaurant all day. His head waiter asks if he should shoo her away but the manager tells him, no, he’ll do it. Instead, when he speaks to her, asking casually if he can help her, she begs for a job. She says her name is Anna and she’s from Rome. He doesn’t ask why she left although he may have an idea. The restaurant doesn’t have an opening, she doesn’t have restaurant experience, but something in her desperation touches him and he hires her anyway. Sending her to the kitchen to work, he pulls her aside first and gives her a plate of food.

Yet, this kind-hearted man, like most Italians before the war, is a supporter of the Fascists. Luciano just also happens to be a good man. Like most Italians, he admires the Fascists for getting the economy working and helping WWI veterans like himself, a wounded war hero who got no welcome home after the war.

Although some of his old friends are active in the party, he is more casual about it, and rather cool towards the adoring cult of personality that has developed around Mussolini. Unlike some Italians, he is not antisemitic and is not shocked when he eventually learns that the smart, hard-working woman he took pity on and hired is hiding a Jewish identity. He notes that Italy, unlike German, doesn’t have anti-Jewish laws, although his employee points out that may change with Italy’s new alliance with Hitler.

While Luciano is respectful of his new employee, we also see he is drawn to her, even if he’s a generation older. Although she is a bit stand-offish at first, the quiet charm and thoughtfulness of this good-looking middle-aged man begins to have an effect on her too.

But just as things seem set on a path to romance, surprising twists intervene, and the film suddenly shifts from a budding romance and drama about complicated relationships, to a taut thriller with even more complexities, and dangers, as war approaches. The tension rises and relationships between everyone at the restaurant grow far more complex.

This turn changes what has been a well-crafted romance into a gripping suspense tale, while losing none of that tension between these two. The acting is superb, and the film further develops all the characters, using them to bring out various issues of pre-war Italy. The storytelling is tight, the period settings and details all flawless and the photography excellent, but it is the performances, particularly Riccardo Scamarcio as Luciano and Benedetta Porcaroli as Anna that really win our hearts.

THE SHADOW OF THE DAY, in Italian with English subtitles, plays the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival on Thursday, Apr. 18 at 7pm at the B&B West Olive Cinema in Creve Coeur.

“Vincenzo Malconico: Italian Lawyer ” – TV Series Review

Massimiliano Gallo as lawyer Vincenzo Malconico, in the Italian comedy series “Vincenzo Malconico: Italian Lawyer.” Courtesy of MHzChoice

I’ve reviewed a lot of European TV series when they start streaming on our side of the Atlantic in the last several years. Among the light-hearted ones, France’s “Captain Marleau” and “Sharif” have been my favorites. Italy has also come up with some amusing forays into the genre. “Vincenzo Malconico: Italian Lawyer” is the most farcical of them all, as the eponymous attorney (Massimiliano Gallo) is a flustered guy with a marginal practice, besieged by hassles from all directions – family, friends, neighbors and clients –and usually more than one at a time. It’s eight episodes of fast-paced mayhem, so one needs to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy it. Murders occur, but the emphasis is far more on character comedy than the whodunnit component.

Much about Vincenzo’s appearance screams loser, from his rumpled suits, to his cell phone’s obnoxious ring tone that seems to interrupt every nice moment he ALMOST gets to enjoy, to the way he clutches his briefcase to his chest wherever he goes, apparently not trusting its handle the way everyone else on the planet who totes one for a living does. He’s divorced from an ex-wife (Teresa Saponangelo) who is so overbearing and irrational (despite being a psychologist; or perhaps because of it) that her own mother (Lina Sastri) prefers Vincenzo’s company and counsel to that of her daughter’s. He loves his two adult kids, but is too frazzled to be reliable about things like showing up when he’s supposed to, despite his laudable intentions. All of that is consistent with the series’ Italian title which had “avvocato d’insucceso”after his name and the colon. That roughly translates to “loser lawyer.”

The season opens with Vincenzo being pressured to take a murder case, defending an alleged corpse disposer for Salerno’s mob, even though his practice doesn’t stretch to that area of the law. That earns him the unwanted protection and excessive presence of the defendant’s enforcer, Tricarico (Francesco di Liva). Tricario sees himself as a Dr. Watson to a Sherlock, but he’s more like Mongo to Sheriff Bart in BLAZING SADDLES. Three key killings intertwine throughout the season, providing mysteries and dramatic elements for the scripts as counterpoint to the comedic.

On the (mostly) plus side for our hero, gorgeous lawyer Alessandra (Denise Capezza) seems far more drawn to him than colleagues, most viewers or Vincenzo can believe. In her presence, he’s as shy and awkward as an unpopular, acne-covered ‘tween at his first mixer. And rightly so, for as they say, he’s punching way above his weight class in being with her. Or, in more common parlance, she’s 4-5 rungs above him on the ol’ 1-10 hotness ladder. This all begins after his ex had dumped him and married another, while still coming to Vincenzo regularly for a supplemental boink. Her will, in and out of bed, overwhelms him to an amazing extent as she continues to demand his attentions, sexually and otherwise.

The rest of the details are better left for you to discover. Vincenzo’s underdog charm keeps our empathy solidly in his corner through failures and successes, weaknesses and strengths. Saponangelo plays the virago to the hilt, scheming and demanding whatever suits her in the moment, with absolutely no self-awareness. She needs strong medication and/or substantial time ON a shrink’s couch far more than beside her own, therapizing others. Di Liva and Sastri in supporting roles make their characters shine well beyond the lines written for them. Her character arc is particularly endearing.

The season ends with reasonable closure on most plot and character elements, without the frustration of significant cliffhangers. A few questions do remain open. So this can work as a charming miniseries, or the opening for further seasons if the Gods of Programming will it. I’d prefer the latter.

“Vincenzo Malinconico: Italian Lawyer,” in Italian with English subtitles, streams on MHzChoice as of Tuesday, Mar. 5.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

SEA BEYOND – TV Series Review

Nicolas Maupas and Massimiliano Caiazzo in “The Sea Beyond.” Courtesy of MHzChoice

“The Sea Beyond” is an Italian TV drama, mostly set in a detention facility for teens who’ve run afoul of the law. Inmates include both genders but they’re kept mostly in separate areas. It plays out as something of an under-18 soap opera, with a few romances and multiple arenas of violence among a large ensemble cast of principals.

The course of their current incarceration experiences is inter-cut with flashbacks to the preceding events that landed them in the pokey. Most of their criminal behavior seems to result from abusive fathers and father-figures, multi-generational grudges between rival crime families, and the temptations of drugs and thievery for an easy path out of poverty. Plus the desire for respect from their peers and some elders.

The primary focus is on two young men – rich kid, Filippo (Nicolas Maupas) who accidentally caused the death of a friend with an influential father, and Carmine (Massimiliano Caiano) who struggled to free himself from the criminal enterprise of his family but killed the son of a rival capo who was assaulting his girlfriend. That seeming justification means nothing in terms of keeping him out of jail, or safe from reprisals.

Throughout the first season of 12 hour-long episodes, relationships, plots and allegiances swirl among a couple of dozen cast members we get to know. It’s a series that’s ripe for bingeing, since seeing them back-to-back may be valuable in keeping all the plot lines straight – especially for those of us who need the English subtitles. Like most prison dramas, there are inmates with more control over the institution and inmates than they should have, and a full array of addictions, pathologies and aspirations stirring the pot. Viewers’ sympathies will also shift in some cases.

If this leads you to expect the sexiness and violence of shows like “Orange is the New Black,” scale them down to more PG-13 levels. There are only a few brief displays of nudity, just the still-clad beginnings of any sexual encounters, and much of the violence occurs off-camera or with minimal depiction of the acts and results. On those criteria, this would rank as an “Orange is the New Bland” – coming up short for thrill-seekers, while appealing to a larger audience from those turned off by graphic displays of either variety.

Strong performances abound among the inmates and several others running the facility, or related to the kids. No one skimped on production values either. The sets and costumes are worthy of feature films, including enough scenes in the mean streets and at some lovely seaside locations in and around Naples to keep the show from feeling claustrophobic.

Season One ends without major cliffhangers, though most of the romance and revenge plot lines for the array of characters remain unresolved. Not to worry. Seasons Two and Three have already run in Italy, and are scheduled for streaming release on MHzChoice within the coming months.

“The Sea Beyond: Season One”, mostly in Italian with English subtitles, is available streaming on MHzChoice starting Tuesday, Oct. 17.

RATING: 2 out of 4 stars

“The Bride” (“La Sposa”) – TV Series Review

Serena Rossi as Maria, the bride in the Italian TV mini-series drama “The Bride” (“La Sposa”). Courtesy of MHz Choice

Italian TV gives us “The Bride” (“La Sposa”), a dramatic miniseries about a woman enduring many types of hardship for an emotionally intense quartet of hour-long episodes. It could be marginalized as a “chick flick” or soap opera without much of a sexy side but it turns out to be a fairly compelling character study of the eponymous bride, Maria (Serena Rossi), and the culture surrounding her in 1960 rural Italy.

Maria’s family was dirt poor, about to lose their humble home in a village in the southern region. Desperate to save her mother and two younger siblings from being homeless, she agrees to marry grumpy old farmer Vittorio (Maurizio Donadoni) from far to the north in exchange for his promise to clear their debts and send a monthly stipend to them. Then she learns Vittorio was only there as a proxy for his nephew, Italo (Giorgio Marchesi), who would be her ACTUAL hubby.

After a long drive, they arrive at the rundown farm to meet a husband who had no desire to marry anyone. He was still grieving deeply (and mostly drunkenly) over the disappearance of his wife. He was so distraught that he even ignored their young son, Paolino (Antonio Nicolai) so badly that he became almost feral from neglect by the two men. She also lands in a role of oppressive submission, accepting an inhumane workload in the house, fields and with their few animals. She toils though all of it capably and without complaint despite not receiving a whiff of kindness or appreciation. Vittorio and Italo treat her like a lowly servant no matter what she accomplishes for them.

The first positive development is when Paolino eventually responds positively to her. But the women of the village shun her because she came from the (disparaged) South, and by assuming the marriage was HER idea, despite the uncertainty of whether the first wife had died. The men resented her simply because of her gender.

Other characters from Maria’s past and present become key players in her ordeal with fully developed story arcs of their own. The microcosm of her situation expands with larger plot-lines about the declining economy for small farmers, new industries displacing the locals and making their traditional way of life obsolete, clashes between labor and ownership, along with other challenges for Maria and everyone around her. I can’t write more about the plot without getting into spoiler territory.

This all adds up to a slow-moving character study that works largely because of Rossi’s outstanding performance. Maria has many dimensions and Rossi is credible (or beyond) in all of them, without overplaying any. Character arcs of others seem realistic throughout all their hardships, losses and positives that unfold. Regular readers may notice that this genre is well outside of my usual range. At many points it seemed to drag, with a number of scenes that chafed because of what happened or what *didn’t* happen when it could/should have. But I’m glad I was alone while screening this, since it also succeeded in eliciting both sad and joyful eye-moistening moments during which I preferred not being observed.

There. You have my confession.

“The Bride,” in Italian with English subtitles, is available streaming starting Sept 5 on MHzChoice.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

“The Bride” on MHz Choice

“Makari” Season 2 – TV Series Review

(L-R) Ester Pantano as Suleima, Claudio Gioe as Saverio and Domenico Centamore as Peppe, in Italian crime TV series “Makari.” Courtesy of MHzChoice

“Makari” Season 2 brings three more cozy light crime dramedies from this Italian TV series. It’s named after a Sicilian coastal village (Macari) that provides the lovely setting for a season of three mysteries in which our set of amateurs become involved. The star is Saverio (Claudio Gioe), a fortyish writer who’s lost his high-profile political press-agent gig due to an even higher-profile screw-up. Tail between his legs and nearly broke, he returns to the village where his father still owns a run-down vacation home, and tries to start a new life in safe, familiar environs.

He’s greeted by old pal Peppe (Domenico Centamore) – a lovable, overly chatty lug who variably helps and annoys our putative hero as he settles in. Saverio’s next acquisition is a girlfriend. He meets a charming, bright waitress, Suleima (Ester Pantano), interrupting her architecture studies to earn money during the town’s tourist-laden summer, and gradually wins her over.

Saverio is no action figure, nor does he go out of his way to get involved in these cases When he does, it’s to be helpful to others, and possibly provide material for the novels he’d meant to write before the call of journalism and politics changed that game plan. His sleuthing is mainly dependent on his friendly, approachable demeanor and intellect. Suleima is helpful, albeit largely from a distance. Peppe is the more active cohort, though his big, friendly puppy nature tends to provide more comic relief than useful support.

The tenor is akin to Terence Hill’s “Don Matteo,” or more familiar British series like “Father Brown” and “Doc Martin,” in the way it’s fleshed out by casts of locals we get comfortable with. Gioe’s Saverio is quite likeable. Pantano’s Suleima is a real gem, looking just beautiful enough to realistically fit the rest of the premise while showing intellect, independence and street smarts to make her an engaging character. Centamore’s Peppe is sort of a cross between Italy’s late, great Bud Spencer, and Zorro’s buffoonish Sergeant Garcia.

Season 2 picks up shortly after the events of the first quartet. Saverio has been back in his eponymous hometown for about a year and isn’t thriving financially. His last book didn’t sell. The publisher is delaying the release of the novel he’s trying to finish, forcing him to accept a gig writing and hosting travel pieces for the web. He needs the paycheck, and raising his profile via the exposure should also boost book sales whenever he finally finishes the one he’s been blocked on for months.

This season again mixes comedy (largely surrounding Peppe) and romance with the easygoing mysteries. Saverio’s relationship with Suleima is strained by geographic distance, exacerbated by how closely and constantly she works with her boss, Teodoro (Andrea Bosca), who seems like a guy few women could resist. He’s handsome, rich, smart and almost unbelievably altruistic. He envisions creating a huge multi-purpose facility that could greatly benefit Sicily’s economy and culture; all meant for the good of the regular people, not the fat cats. Since Saverio is at an all-time career low, his insecurities flourish.

His first assignment is an archaeological dig of great import, overseen by a professor widely considered at the top of the field (no Indiana Jones to compete with in this version of the world). On the eve of announcing whether newly-unearthed stones come from the ruins of an ancient theater scholars have been seeking for centuries, he’s killed. Saverio lands in another sleuthing challenge for himself and Peppe. This death at least brings the unforeseen upside of giving his videos far more hits than expected.

Episode 2 takes him to a tourism village hosting a conference aimed at reducing Mafia influence in Sicily. Two of its leading advocates are valued former colleagues. When one is found dead, Saverio first has to convince the cops that it was murder, rather than the work-avoiding suicide they initially assumed. Were Mafiosi trying to squelch their critics? Or were there other players and motives to consider? The third involves a death that looks accidental, but must be otherwise, or we wouldn’t have much of a story. This one poses a threat to Teodoro and Suleima’s grand project. Again, Saverio has to convince the police not to settle for easy answers, and spearhead the path to solution.

This round is one crime shorter, offering three 110-minute episodes, with less sex and violence than our usual prime-time fare. It ends without cliffhangers, leaving the protagonists in suitable places if it proves to be the end, without precluding a third season. Since these aired in 2022, that remains possible, and would certainly be welcome.

“Makari” Season 2, mostly in Italian with English subtitles, begins streaming on MHzChoice on Tuesday, July 18.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

MAN FROM ROME – Review

Richard Armitage as Father Quart, in THE MAN FROM ROME. Courtesy of Screen Media

If you’re craving a DA VINCI CODE sort of movie but don’t want to concentrate quite that hard, THE MAN FROM ROME may be your answer. The plot, penned by Adrian Bol, Beth Bollinger and Gretchen Cowan, is very Dan Brownian but shorter and with fewer moving pieces and locations. Hunky Richard Armitage stars as a Vatican troubleshooting priest who we quickly understand to be the Church’s go-to guy for dangerous missions. Not so much for gruesome cleanups like Harvey Keitel’s memorable Mr. Wolf, in PULP FICTION but where there’s a problem, Armitage’s Father Quart is reliable for a solution. The film opens with his being bummed about someone he was unable to protect on a recent job. Not his fault but guilt lingers, regardless.

Switch to the Vatican’s computer center. The Pope’s (Franco Nero) computer is being hacked by an unknown tech whiz who can breeze through a lot of firewalls. The goal is to get his attention and ask him to prevent a beautiful old church in Seville, Spain, from being demolished to make room for a massive new real estate development. The driving force behind the construction is a sleazy banker (Rodolfo Sancho) who has compromised other interested parties with a panoply of dirty tactics. His almost ex-wife (the gorgeous Amaia Salamanca) is the hereditary owner of the land and his most ardent opponent, dedicated to maintaining their legacy.

Sancho’s methods of pushing the deal include blackmail, bribery and possibly a murder or two. Armitage is sent there to protect the image of the Church, which already has more than enough scandals, and to check out the deaths, and then advise on whether keeping the lovely old church is worth more than the whopping payday the sale would yield.

There’s considerable suspense in to what lengths the developers will go to, and how Armitage will handle them, including several physical exchanges. The bad guys have moles within the local police and Vatican inner circle, leaving our hero with few allies he can trust in the face of danger. The greed and corruption story plays out efficiently under the direction of Sergio Dow in a relatively low budget version of Tom Hanks’ similar sojourns based on Brown’s novels. The institution isn’t painted as evil but that’s not the same as finding some of its leaders more human than humane, and much less holy.

Though unrated at the time of this review, expect a film that would fall somewhere between a hard PG-13 and a soft R. A fair portion of the audience will be glad that Armitage has shirtless moments; a comparable number will be bummed that Salamanca doesn’t. There’s not nearly enough mayhem to call this a guy flick but there’s a sufficient amount of action to keep the adrenaline flowing as events unfold.

MAN FROM ROME, in English and Italian with English subtitles, opens in theaters and streaming on demand on Friday, June 30.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars