[Rating: Minor Rock Fist Up]
Family tradition is above all an important thing for a lot of people, my family included. When you merge two families together that have different customs and traditions, sometimes hijinks ensue that will either bring the families together, or rip them apart. Think Meet the Parents. In fact, one actor from that film, Robert De Niro, is the perfect candidate to test our family traditions. In his latest flick About My Father (directed by Laura Terruso), De Niro, alongside son Sebastian Maniscalco, meet the new parents.
Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco stars as a fictionalized version of himself, in love with Ellie (Leslie Bibb). While his family background is that of traditional working class Italian in Chicago, Ellie is from an affluent political family. When she invites him and his father Salvo (De Niro) to her family’s compound for the 4th of July, these two men have a serious culture shock upon arrival. Ellie’s parents Bill (David Rasche) and Senator Tigger (Kim Cattrall) welcome all with open arms. Sebastian and Salvo have to navigate a world which they know nothing about. Salvo, being traditional in every regard, has no idea how his son could want to live in a world that is so formal and well-to-do. All of this is put into question as Bill and Tigger offer Sebastian a chance to move away from Chicago to live in Washington D.C. and Sebastian discovers a secret of his possible future in-laws that could break he and Ellie up.
You would think that every funny scene in the trailer of this movie would be less funny when it’s actually on screen. I’m happy to report that is wrong. I am not familiar with the comedy of Maniscalco, but he’s actually pretty funny. Alongside De Niro who has some wonderful line delivery, they work so well together.
What else is funny, is De Niro has made this movie before in the Meet the Parents series, so it really shouldn’t be hard for him to understand how a family comedy should operate. He has a great scene near the end that is too reminiscent of Goodfellas.
About My Father is a surprisingly good movie I couldn’t have seen coming. De Niro really doesn’t fail in these random one-off movies. If there’s something that anybody could take out of this movie, it’s the importance of all types of family and their love and respect for others.
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
Comments on this entry are closed.