The family dynamics are hysterical and the actors were the perfect choices for the roles. The chemistry between Emily and Tony (and her mother, father, and his uncle) is both heart warming and hysterical. What a light-hearted romantic comedy full of laughter, love, and wit. The "family" scene at the end is perfect - the writing, music, scenery, and acting couldn't have been more "on". And the food - made me hungry for a bite as well. Viewers need to realize it's a light-hearted comedy, not a drama, and enjoy the cheeky-ness of the banter and discord between the characters. Reminded me of the campy movies from the 60s, cheeky like Doris Day but with an Italian attitude. Enjoyed it so much, I watched it again that same afternoon!

If you've loved at all in your life, you'll enjoy this film. Actually, you'll enjoy it anyway, but you'll understand every nuance if you've been in love. This movie dances with every emotion and dynamic one experiences in a relationship of any substance; love, hatred, anger, betrayal, hurt, humor, power struggles, pride, fear. It's all wrapped up tightly in this movie and presented in a tender, subtle, yet gripping way that engages the viewer and gently holds your attention until the end. The acting is great, the emotions are real, and the presentation is lively, interesting, and even informative. I can't remember when I've seen a better balanced film; each role is important in piecing the message together and everyone involved does a great job. Very enjoyable. I challenge anyone to view this film without laughing and shedding a tear.

I'm not a big fan of Patricia Heaton, I think she is only an average actress; but I am a big fan of Vincent Spano, ever since 'The Return of the Black Stallion'. While I can't swear to have seen everything he ever did, if I have a chance to see something he's in, I will usually take it. It was great to see Tony Lo Bianco, and I also like Lainie Kazan. Some of her scenes in this movie were priceless.I enjoyed this movie, it was funny and sweet too. And it was a chance to look at Vince for a while, which is never a bad thing. Nice storyline, good acting, and the scenes between Patricia and Vince were good. Having more romantic but not too syrupy movies like this on TV might actually make me watch more romantic movies.

I'm sorry to sound like a Scrouge, but this TNT film was a holiday stinker! The film's premise had good potential: From overseas, an American GI in World War II sends his high school sweetheart a marriage proposal and an engagement ring, which unfortunately are lost in the mail. When the letter and the ring are miraculously discovered forty years later, one would expect that the revelation would clear up the mystery and end the long-standing feud between two Italian families. But when Alicia (Lainie Kazan) learns about the letter and the ring sent by her former beau Nick (Tony Lo Bianco), her inexplicable response is to continue to be angry at him! This made no sense because it wasn't Nick's fault that the letter and the ring were lost. The subplot of the couple in the next generation (Patricia Heaton and Vincent Spano) also seemed forced and not believable. There were moments in this film that resembled French farce, then turned immediately into Greek tragedy!The dialogue was terrible, and the cast seemed to be reading their lines, as opposed to performing the action and connecting with each other in their relationships. I almost wished that the actors could have improvised the scenes around the basic romantic premise, instead of forcing the emotional life and giving us the impression that they were reading the insipid lines from cue cards. Before the film began, TNT offered this tagline as a teaser: "The holidays are for bringing people together." As it turned out, that line was better than any of the scripted dialogue in the film, and the best character was the grandma mainly because she was mute!