Walking on Sunshine (2014)

Plot summary (story synopsis): During a stay in an Italian beach resort, Englishwoman Maddie (Annabel Scholey) falls in love with local Italian hunk Raf (Giulio Berruti) and decides to marry him after a whirlwind 5 week romance.

Her sister Taylor (Hannah Arterton) flies in for the wedding, only to find out that Raf is the man that she dumped three years ago, leaving Italy to return to England in order to get a university education.

Raf and Taylor agree to keep their past a secret from Maddie, but their attraction for each other is still there. Meanwhile, Maddie's bad-boy ex, Doug (Greg Wise) makes a surprise visit to try and win her back.

***

Walking on Sunshine is a fun, light musical-romance-comedy with a rollicking 80s soundtrack. It lacks the star power of Mamma Mia! and Rock of Ages, but equals them in pop nostalgia and probably exceeds them in dance energy.

Directors Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini have previously directed two StreetDance movies. I have never heard of StreetDance before but I guess there's a lot of dancing in them.

There's certainly a lot of dancing in Sunshine, with an entire airport lobby breaking out into song (Madonna's Holiday) and dance within the first few minutes of the opening of the movie. If you're too young to remember, this is classic 1980s music video-style.

There was a group of schoolgirls sitting behind me in the theater and they were giggling and squealing throughout the whole movie. So you don't have to be an old codger to enjoy the movie, but you might miss a few 1980s references.

The cast of unknowns acquit themselves well. Hannah Arterton has a Piper Perabo charm about her, while Giulio Berruti looks like a male model. It sounds like the actors sing their own songs, but I can't be sure. They aren't spectacular singers, but they are good enough. There is some professional support from Leona Lewis (who sang I See You in Avatar) who plays Elena, one of Taylor's friends. The best part? Pierce Brosnan doesn't sing in this movie.

Good use is made of the Italian setting, with the ancient stone buildings leaving the greatest impression. There's a spectacular mass tomato fight in a cobblestone alley, like the Running of the Bulls or Holi, only with tomatoes.

There's something special about the songs of the 1980s. Every generation thinks that about their music. I was a teenager during the 1980s so I'm probably biased, but unlike the music of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, 1980s music hasn't aged. Play one today and you could fool a teenager into thinking that it was a current hit.

However I can't help thinking that there are so many movies with 1980s pop/rock soundtracks now because the people who grew up in the 1980s are now movie directors, writers and producers. Or maybe they are just a middle-aged demographic ripe for milking money from. In 10 years, we'll be seeing a whole bunch of 1990s music movies. Hello Guns N' Roses.

The runtime of Walking on Sunshine is maybe 30% to 50% songs, so it's as much music as it is story. Which is great. If you're an eighties child, bring your kids to see it. If you're not, go see it and realize that once, your parents too were young.