Forget Bounce, Autumn in New York or Coyote Ugly.

The most endearing romantic comedy of the year is Raymond De Felitta's Two Family House.

Think Moonstruck with even more charm, sincerity and honesty.

Two Family House is not only set in the 1950s, but recalls the style of filmmaking of that gentler, sweeter era.

Two Family House is a story about adultery.

When Buddy Visalo (Michael Rispoli) bought the old house in the Irish section of Staten Island, he knew the upstairs rooms were rented.

Buddy naively assumed he could evict the tenants.

His tenant Jim O'Neary (Kevin Conway) knew there was a loophole that would allow him and his pregnant wife Mary (Kelly Macdonald) to stay rent-free for another year.

Buddy calls his buddies to help him forcefully turf the drunken Irishman.

During the scuffle, Mary delivers her child, causing her husband to bolt on his own.

It's clear the child is not her husband's, which make the young bride a wanton woman.

Buddy's wife Estelle (Katherine Narducci) insists Mary cannot stay another day under a good Italian Catholic roof.

Buddy initially listens to his wife, but ultimately it's his heart that begins speaking to him, so he goes in search of the girl and her child he threw into the streets.

As Mary and Buddy become friends, he learns she is the first person who actually believes in his dreams.

He wants to turn the ground floor of his house into a little pub where he can be the serenading host.

Eventually, Buddy and Mary agree to have a one-week affair.

His reasoning is that he has been a good man all his adult life. Her reasoning is she's been a bad girl all her short adult life.

There's a good reason Two Family House has such a ring of truth.

The Buddy who inspired this story is De Felitta's uncle.

The younger De Felitta has captured the robust emotions of Buddy's Italian community as well as its deep-rooted prejudices.

Rispoli's performance recalls the earthiness of a young Ernest Borgnine in his Oscar-winning performance in Marty, another poignant story of a lonely, misunderstood man who stumbles headlong into love.

Narducci's brassy gusto balances Macdonald's guarded determination and strength.

Two Family House is a movie filled with the joy and pain that love brings with it.

It's also filled with the surprises and insights that are so sorely missing in so many modern romantic comedies.

(This film is rated R)

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