Ciao opens with about eight minutes of near silence—just ambient noise as Jeff goes through various daily routines. Jeff seems lonely. Between the scenes of Jeff's life are some e-mails. The first is from Andrea to Mark telling him he will be coming for a weekend. Then a note from Jeff to Andrea telling him that Mark was in an auto accident and died last week. Finally a note from Andrea to Jeff telling him who he was—he's from Italy and he and Mark met online.

In time we learn that Jeff and Mark were friends since they were roommates in college. Although both are gay, they were never lovers. The bond between them, however, was very strong. We recognize Jeff's grief in the scenes as he takes care of things in Mark's apartment.

Eventually, Jeff e-mails Andrea suggesting he make the trip anyway. He can stay with Jeff and they can spend some time talking about Mark. Andrea does come. He and Jeff are fairly tentative at the beginning, but as the film progresses they find a common ground in Mark.

It is a leisurely-paced film. It doesn't rush Jeff and Andrea into a relationship. It lets that relationship happen slowly, bit by bit. Much of the time is spent with the two of them talking—about Mark or about themselves—letting us learn their stories just as they learn each other's stories. By the end of the film, as Andrea returns to Italy, we don't know where the relationship will go, but there is a seed planted.

In many ways the sexual orientation of the characters seems unimportant. They might just as well be a man and woman meeting for the first time under strange circumstances. The way two people develop a rapport doesn't revolve around sex. In the setting of this film, it allows us to see the developing relationship between these two gay men as something normal.

In the case of Jeff and Andrea the common bond that begins their relationship is Mark. Jeff was somewhat taken aback to have known nothing about Andrea. He and Mark have a close friendship. There is even a certain sense of betrayal at the beginning, because of the relationship that had developed between Mark and Andrea online. That connection with Mark also binds them in grief, although Jeff is grieving much more since he had known Mark much longer. In their time together they begin to find a way through their grief.

While I found the story interesting, it lacked any sense of warmth. Even in the scenes where there is an intimacy, it is a cold intimacy. This is unfortunate because the strength of the story is how two people, even if they are strangers, can bring grace into each other's life. Times of grief in particular are times when having another nearby can be a great gift. The film's heart is in the right place. It would have been improved if the heart opened a bit more.