Florence is one of my favourite cities of the world, and I am an old guy who has travelled a lot. It's 52 years since I first visited there, and I have been back over and over, including just three months ago. I had heard of Calcio Storico, but never visited at that time in June, so I knew very little about it, other than that it is pretty rough!
So in my opinion Ercole (Eric) needs very few reasons for falling in love with the city, but the movie gives him two, and these are Calcio Storico and Stefania. In their portrayal, the former trumps the latter (now why did I use that verb?? I will return to this). I found the notion that a gridiron footballer would take to Calcio Storico with such enthusiasm thoroughly plausible, and very well presented. The 'boy meets girl' story was a little bit more thin. OK, he was on the rebound, he was in an enchanting city, and it wasn't hard, especially as she made very little secret of her sexual desire for him.
The ending was his final 'Labour of Hercules' - he had to choose between two women. And in these days of Trump, anyone who decided to vote for him might have great difficulty understanding how and why any man could reject a steady suburban life in America with a woman who was American as apple pie, for the magical slice of Italian chaos that is Florence with a woman who was as passionate as every artist who ever lived in that breathtakingly marvellous city. Ercole displayed his passion - he was full of it, and loved living life for the moment and to the full. Colleen was devoid of it, and for her it was all about financial security first second and third.
It was through her own passion that Stefania won her man. A very nice little movie, 8/10.
