About My Father (2023) Lionsgate/Comedy RT: 89 minutes Rated PG-13 (suggestive material, language, partial nudity) Director: Laura Terruso Screenplay: Sebastian Maniscalco and Laura Terruso Music: Stephanie Economou Cinematography: Rogier Stoffers Release date: May 26, 2023 (US) Cast: Sebastian Maniscalco, Robert De Niro, Leslie Bibb, Anders Holm, David Rasche, Kim Cattrall, Brett Dier.
Rating: **
The nicest thing I can say about the sporadically amusing comedy About My Father is that it’s relatively painless. By that, I mean it doesn’t aim low with its humor. None of it involves bodily fluids and only one scene has a character getting caught with his pants- or in this case, swimming trunks- down. While I appreciate the effort, it’s a mediocre one at best. With Robert De Niro in the lead, it should have been better. Unfortunately, the screenplay lets him down at every predictable turn.
Written by stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco and inspired by his life, About My Father is one of those culture-clash comedies in which two disparate groups, working-class Italian-Americans and wealthy WASPs, are brought together by their children who are involved in a serious relationship. Sebastian (essentially playing himself) is the son of cranky Sicilian immigrant Salvo (De Niro), a hair stylist (don’t EVER call him a barber!) and recent widower who raised his only child with an iron fist. Like his ancestors before him, he suffers from a condition commonly known as “resting bitch face”.
He’s finding it hard to accept that Sebastian wants to marry a girl that isn’t Italian. Instead, his son’s intended is Ellie (Bibb, Talladega Nights), a blonde-haired cutie who makes a living painting abstracts that resemble female genitalia (naughty but not gross, so it gets a pass). Her family is the very epitome of WASPs. Her dad Bill (Rasche, The Good House) owns a successful hotel chain which means he doesn’t actually have to work. Mom Tigger (Cattrall, Sex and the City) is a senator. Take a guess what party she represents. Older brother Lucky (Holm, Workaholics) is the perfect mix of d-bag and dim bulb. He’s a real American Idle. Younger brother Doug (Dier, Jane the Virgin) is a New Age nutjob who’s currently studying to be a healer. He LOVES playing those sound bowls.
It seems like Ellie’s family is finally starting to accept her relationship with Sebastian. They invite him to join them at their summer home for the Fourth of July weekend. He sees it as an opportunity to pop the question. All he needs is his mother’s wedding ring which was promised to him. Salvo doesn’t want to give it up until he meets his potential in-laws in their natural habitat. There’s reluctance on both parts, but Dad agrees to accompany his son and possible fiancee on their holiday getaway. Let the non-hilarity begin.
From here on in, About My Father is a so-so variation on Meet the Parents with De Niro playing the outsider this time. Salvo doesn’t get these people or their values. He doesn’t understand why his son wants to marry into a family like this. He continually reminds Sebastian that he doesn’t fit in and would be better off marrying a nice Italian girl. Most of the time, he just reacts with that stone-faced look of disapproval that’s become a De Niro trademark. He can’t believe what he’s witnessing and if it was up to him, he’d be on the first plane back to Chicago. It goes without saying that De Niro is the best thing- nay, the only good thing- about this movie. He struggles to keep it afloat, but it’s a losing battle.
I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of the last really hilarious comedy movie and all I can come up with is Borat from 2006. That was 17 years ago. Nothing really stands out between then and now. About My Father continues this unfortunate trend. To its credit, it doesn’t wallow in gross humor like the wretched Vacation reboot. I still get queasy thinking about it. That’s not to say it doesn’t go to some slightly distasteful places- e.g. the pet peacock in the pasta. I hate jokes about harm befalling animals, but I’ll take it over people swimming in raw sewage any day.
ANYWAY, this is part of a much bigger problem. None of the jokes in About My Father really pack a punch. It’s neither clever nor witty; it doesn’t hold a candle to the class-anxiety comedies of the 40s with their witty banter and clever observations. It never rises above the level of a sitcom built around a popular comedian. Did I say “popular”? I’ll be honest, I never noticed Sebastian Maniscalco until I saw the trailer for this movie. I’ve never seen his act, but I’m told it’s funny. It doesn’t translate all that well to feature film. As for his performance, he’s like the Italian version of Ben Stiller. He’s the guy that tries too hard and usually ends up being humiliated for his efforts.
The characters, Ellie’s family in particular, are more like caricatures. They’re the benevolent version of the family in Get Out. They’re not overtly snobby, but they have an unmistakable air of superiority. This is Maniscalco and director/co-writer Laura Terruso (Good Girls Get High) cushioning the blow for the sake of innocuousness. That’s fine if he was looking to make a light comedy. On the downside, it takes away a lot of the bite that could have resulted from a more pointed comedy about class differences. In the end, About My Father is too light for its own good. It actually dissipates while it’s going on. It’s not a bad movie; it’s just a very forgettable one. You’re better off waiting for it to show up on a streaming platform.
