In the sun-drenched streets of Rome, a heartbroken groom finds himself abandoned at the altar, left with a non-refundable honeymoon and a ticket to unexpected adventure.

Solo Mio Review

Hollywood, take note. Buried beneath decades of rot lo these many years, Angel Studios has uncovered a mystery that has alluded Tinseltown like D.B. Cooper. What, you ask, is this enigma wrapped in a riddle buried beneath a purple-haired fortress of questionable genders? Make a simple story about universally identifiable themes, and cast lovable actors to portray delightful characters. It seems simple. After all, it was once a formula that allowed studios to print money. But mainstream Hollywood apparently lacks the will or the talent to bring these movies to the big screen anymore.

Angel Studios first exploded onto the silver screen with 2023’s surprise hit about child sex trafficking, Sound of Freedom, starring Jim Caviezel. Since then, the Mormon-owned and operated production company has been feverishly churning out products for both their streaming platform and theatrical releases. In 2025 alone, they released multiple feature-length animated children’s films and as many feature films as any other medium-sized production company.

However, if we’re being honest, the quality has been a little inconsistent: some come very close to what audiences expect from mainstream companies, while others, still better than Christian films from 20 years ago, don’t quite measure up. None, though, has reached the notoriety or box-office numbers of Sound of Freedom. Solo Mio, certainly not their most complex offering, achieves what none of the others have since that first transformative film; it is a “real” movie in every sense of the word.

Kevin James is at his most lovable as the aging art teacher left at the altar. James, a 30-year veteran stand-up comedian who is most remembered from starring in 9 seasons of the CBS sitcom King of Queens, has had a tumultuous relationship with the “big” screen. Moderate financial successes like Zookeeper (2011) were panned by critics and audiences alike, whereas Paul Blart: Mall Cop—certainly not a critical success— raked in almost $200 million at the box office.

However, it’s been a decade since the funny fatman has headlined a feature film, indicating that perhaps both audiences and studios have lost their enthusiasm for James’s signature brand of comedy. In Solo Mio, James foregoes the slapstick, pratfalls, and lovable dope persona with which he amassed his fortune. Instead, he gives us a sincere and vulnerable, if cuddly, character that’s impossible not to root for, and he’s perfectly complemented by Nicole Grimaudo, who plays his love interest. She is as delightful a character as can be without crossing over into saccharine. As the two’s chemistry ignites, they deliver the catharsis moviegoers used to take for granted amongst an otherwise pedestrian and formulaic story.

There is no denying that Solo Mio is far from perfect. Subplots pregnant with potential become little more than contrivances meant to move the story along, never to be heard from again. Secondary characters played by notable actors like Alyson Hannigan (How I Met Your Mother) and Jonathan Roumie (The Chosen) recede into the background as the writers lose their threads amidst the A plot. But, Solo Mio is so breezy, bubbly, and downright charming that its shortcomings can be easily overlooked.

Solo Mio doesn’t reinvent cinema, and it doesn’t need to. What it offers instead is a reminder of something Hollywood seems to have forgotten: audiences don’t require spectacle, subversion, or irony to connect with a story. They just need characters worth caring about and emotions that feel earned. In delivering a modest, sincere, and genuinely human film, Angel Studios has done what so many larger studios refuse or are unable to do anymore—tell a simple story well. If Hollywood is paying attention, the lesson isn’t ideological or political. It’s practical. This still works.

WOKE REPORT

Gesù Cristo

• Jonathan Roumie, best known for playing Jesus in Angel Studios’ The Chosen, plays a beta male husband who is bullied by his domineering wife.
  • I didn’t mark the Woke-O-Meter any lower because it only shows up in two scenes and is then largely forgotten as both he and she become glorified set pieces.