Based on the British miniseries Gold Digger, Deceitful Love (Inganno in Italian) is the kind of concoction that's cooked by a horny as well as derivative writer. Have you ever seen those writer characters in erotic films who masturbate while thinking about their hunky or sexy protagonists? Deceitful Love comes from the mind of such an individual or a team (four people are involved in the writing). Everything here is calculated to be dumb, trashy, and provocative. As Elia, Giacomo Gianniotti is as bland and beefy as a mannequin. He has the kind of perfect body one might fantasize about in their wet dreams - an empty shell that's good for only one thing. Elia's main job in the show is to take off his shirt constantly. He exposes his muscular arms, six or eight packs, and tough thighs for Gabriella's (Monica Guerritore) eyes. Gabriella is a 60-year-old hotel owner who has a lot of money and a busy family, which means she doesn't have anyone to spend time with (there is no best friend or a close colleague). On her birthday, the family members come bearing gifts and smiles, give her a dog, and leave. Their presence is brief. This loneliness makes her an easy target for Elia's web of seduction and deceit. Of course, he has ulterior motives. A 30-year-old man won't fall in love with a 60-year-old woman, right?
What's Elia's deal? He hides a gun, becomes serious when no one is around him, and is discovered at a restaurant with another old woman. He also tempts Nico (Francesco Del Gaudio), one of Gabriella's sons, sexually. Later, it's suggested that he might also end up seducing Gabriella's daughter, Giulia (Dharma Mangia Woods). After making Gabriella fall for him, Elia starts behaving like the new boss of the hotel, much to the staff's chagrin. Everybody, especially Stefano (Emanuel Caserio), Gabriella's lawyer son, finds Elia untrustworthy. Deceitful Love, thus, initially comes across as one of those stories that contain this warning: Age-inappropriate romance is always filled with dishonesty - it doesn't have a happy ending. As long as Deceitful Love sticks to this message, it feels regressive and repulsive. However, later, when it takes a 180-degree flip, when it says, "Age is just a number; be with someone who makes you happy," you change your stance and think, "Maybe age-inappropriate romance is really not worth supporting." That's because we get completely tired of the complications by the time Elia and Gabriella achieve their happy ending. Repetitive lines like, "You are old, and he is young. Did you really think he would fall in love with you?" and Gabriella's swift changes in mood, going from adoring Elia to rebuking him the next instant, create an atmosphere of dullness and monotony.
Gabriella learns a secret about Elia, argues with him, forgives him, and then discovers another secret, leading to another argument, forgiveness, and revelation cycle. This is something that occurs quite often in the series. After a while, it becomes unintentionally funny as well as irritating. As a viewer, you start screaming at Gabriella to break up with Elia. Can't she see that she is merely generating troubles for herself that could easily be discarded or avoided? Gabriella sets herself up for disappointment and then feels heartbroken after getting, well, disappointed. What a dumb character. Giulia isn't very bright, either. She gets creepy text messages from a stalker, but she doesn't file a complaint or talk about it with her family members (Giulia, like Gabriella, doesn't seem to have a close friend). Even if we were to ignore these aspects and look at Deceitful Love as an erotic romance, we would still end up feeling frustrated. The kissing/sex scenes have a softcore porn-like quality, but they are not sexually titillating. There is no eroticism, only bland naked bodies. There is zero chemistry and no sexual tension between Gabriella and Elia, so when they kiss for the first time, you feel nothing. Director Pappi Corsicato sees his scenes impersonally. He lacks the gift of dramatization - he is a weak teller of stories. Corsicato merely jumps from one thing to the next thing.
Deceitful Love turns into a teary courtroom drama when it arrives at the last episode, which further increases your suffering. All this attempt at touching something profound, something traumatic, is exceptionally boring. After a threesome (sort of) in a swimming pool and that cheesy boat-cleaning scene, this kind of personal drama takes you by surprise. It feels false and unconvincing. There is some attempt at messaging when a woman asks whether everybody would be as contemptuous as they are now if an old man had fallen in love with a young woman, and you reply, "Well, duh! In fact, they would be utterly sexist!" Anyway, someone talks about black, white, and gray areas to make a comment on the complexity of human psychology, which motivates you to give another reply, "Oh, please. The characters here are only interested in one area, and that's entirely black - if you know what I mean."
Final Score- [2/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times