“Mascarpone” (“Maschile singolare”)

(Italy)

Screened at the 2021 Reeling LGBTQ+ International Film Festival (5/10)

Getting dumped by one’s partner is never easy, especially if you’ve never really been independent enough financially or emotionally to survive on your own. That’s especially true when it comes to starting over. Such is the fate of the protagonist on this gay Italian rom-com whose narrative is essentially the story line straight out of Paul Mazursky’s classic “An Unmarried Woman” (1978) only with a same-sex twist. The problem here, though, is that the meandering nature of this take, coupled with elements that feel like they were plucked from a Hallmark romance, don’t blend particularly well, making for a viewing experience that often wanders and in sappy, predictable ways. Directors Alessandro Guida and Matteo Pilati have put together a film that’s not terribly original and many of whose elements feel like they were assembled by a committee. While this release does capture what it’s like for many gay men in the singles dating scene, that’s not enough to save a project that truly could use some significant retooling to hit the mark better.