About My Father (C or 2/4 stars)
One of the hottest comedians today, Sebastian Maniscalco, joins forces with legendary Italian-American 2-time Academy Award-winner, Robert DeNiro, in Maniscalco's autobiographical comedy, 'About My Father'. Forty-something yr. old Sebastian has finally decided that it is time to ask girlfriend, Ellie (Leslie Bibb), to marry him. His intention is to put a cherished family heirloom on her finger, but his hard-working, if curmudgeon of a father, Italian-American immigrant, Salvo (DeNiro), requires that, before handing over the ring, he needs to meet his son's future in-laws & judge their worthiness.
The notion of an oil-&-water encounter btwn. Chicago-based Salvo & Ellie's rich, WASPy parents, 'Tigger' & Bill (Kim Cattrall, David Rasche), is enough to give Sebastian agita. Nonetheless, fully intending to pop the question on the 4th of July in front of many people {something she always said she wanted}, Sebastian hesitantly invites Salvo to a big Independence Day bash hosted by Ellie's folks {which include Ellie's eccentric brothers} at an exclusive Washington D.C. country club. Fish-outta-water hijinks & culture clashes ensue as various incidents test the seemingly strong father/son bond.
This comedy is painless, but sadly, so too is it aggressively mediocre. The narrative structure is dull & generic; reminding us of so many superior comedies of old. i.e., other 'like' films, such as Meet the Parents, My Big Fat Greek Wedding & Wedding Crashers. Too often, humor is drawn from inexplicable behaviors & improbable mishaps rather than anything that remotely resembles human interactions. There are scenes in which nothing funny is literally happening, but the camera lingers long on a particular face of a character or a dead space moment that we're probably intended to chuckle at; but all it does is bring elongated attention to the fact that no one's laughing. And I didn't appreciate a subplot involving a peacock that is executed in poor taste.
This film also reinforces outdated stereotypes about both Italian-Americans & WASPs. Nothing new comes from it, just flat, regurgitated 'jokes' about those cultures that results in zero laughs, or, at the very most, a belabored chuckle of acknowledgement. Really, 'About My Father' comes across as a stale mishmash of 2nd rate throwaway scripts from an old sitcom or old movie that never saw the light of day; it also ends on a whimper. As for how the movie looks, well, it looks cheap. The cinematography is 'hard', which makes each character look harsher than they probably do in real life.
Sebastian Maniscalco has his moments; particularly a yacht scene in which he ends up naked for all the family to see. But his shtick here shouldn't nudge the uninitiated towards his comedy touring act. The man is SO funny on tour, but that doesn't really come across, here. As for DeNiro, aside from a very moving moment btwn. he & Maniscalco in front of a plane, he just kinda harrumphs his way through a series of his tried-&-true frowning, scowling, grumpy old man act. I don't want to make it sound like I hated this movie. There is nothing to hate about Maniscalco's passion project. I chuckled here & there. The feel-good story doesn't tread new ground, but goes down harmlessly & easy. It is a fine time-passer; just wanted it to be quite a bit better.
The notion of an oil-&-water encounter btwn. Chicago-based Salvo & Ellie's rich, WASPy parents, 'Tigger' & Bill (Kim Cattrall, David Rasche), is enough to give Sebastian agita. Nonetheless, fully intending to pop the question on the 4th of July in front of many people {something she always said she wanted}, Sebastian hesitantly invites Salvo to a big Independence Day bash hosted by Ellie's folks {which include Ellie's eccentric brothers} at an exclusive Washington D.C. country club. Fish-outta-water hijinks & culture clashes ensue as various incidents test the seemingly strong father/son bond.
This comedy is painless, but sadly, so too is it aggressively mediocre. The narrative structure is dull & generic; reminding us of so many superior comedies of old. i.e., other 'like' films, such as Meet the Parents, My Big Fat Greek Wedding & Wedding Crashers. Too often, humor is drawn from inexplicable behaviors & improbable mishaps rather than anything that remotely resembles human interactions. There are scenes in which nothing funny is literally happening, but the camera lingers long on a particular face of a character or a dead space moment that we're probably intended to chuckle at; but all it does is bring elongated attention to the fact that no one's laughing. And I didn't appreciate a subplot involving a peacock that is executed in poor taste.
This film also reinforces outdated stereotypes about both Italian-Americans & WASPs. Nothing new comes from it, just flat, regurgitated 'jokes' about those cultures that results in zero laughs, or, at the very most, a belabored chuckle of acknowledgement. Really, 'About My Father' comes across as a stale mishmash of 2nd rate throwaway scripts from an old sitcom or old movie that never saw the light of day; it also ends on a whimper. As for how the movie looks, well, it looks cheap. The cinematography is 'hard', which makes each character look harsher than they probably do in real life.
Sebastian Maniscalco has his moments; particularly a yacht scene in which he ends up naked for all the family to see. But his shtick here shouldn't nudge the uninitiated towards his comedy touring act. The man is SO funny on tour, but that doesn't really come across, here. As for DeNiro, aside from a very moving moment btwn. he & Maniscalco in front of a plane, he just kinda harrumphs his way through a series of his tried-&-true frowning, scowling, grumpy old man act. I don't want to make it sound like I hated this movie. There is nothing to hate about Maniscalco's passion project. I chuckled here & there. The feel-good story doesn't tread new ground, but goes down harmlessly & easy. It is a fine time-passer; just wanted it to be quite a bit better.