Movie Review: Mambo Italiano

I'm confused, did I spell that right? That says something about how the movie is infused in my memory, doesn't it?

First, a bit of history...I was raised in an ethnic family. We were every bit of Italian, Jewish, Irish and Catholic, and totally New York. We all understood the jokes of Woody Allen; the Nanny was not as offensive to our little collective whole.

When My Big Fat Greek Wedding opened to mixed reviews, I gave it moderate interest. Everyone said it played on unfair stereotypes.

Then the phone calls started. Everyone would ask ME, explicitly, if I had seen it. Apparently, the movie sounded like what I had described at various water coolers. When my best friend, sans a review, merely stated, "I'm taking you to go see it," three days before my own impending nuptials, I had to figure that there was something going on.

I loved it. My partner and I giggled continously at the parallels in my life to the movie's. The mother's hairstyle. A gazillion people over for "a little dinnah." The differences in the two families. The guilt. The concepts of love.

The parallels between My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Mambo Italiano are very strong here, that's why I had to bring it up. The criticisms for that movie are the same that I had for this movie. The ethnicity is too strong for reality--in Mambo Italiano, the parents still have strong accents after living stateside for 40 years. The hair is still big; the foil wallpaper still finds itself in the stereotype. The fights are still over and around food. There is still matchmaking being played. It's almost as if you can't make a romantic comedy about the goyum and gentiles of the world. White people make dull love, I suppose.

I have to say, this movie is bad. It starts and stops. Beginning with strong editing that keeps a pretty predictable plot chiming along. But I also have to say, like my Big Fat Greek Wedding, I liked it. Yeah, I can relate. I've spent so much of my life escaping and running away from certain stereotypes, yet here I am, admitting to the comfort this movie gave me seeing them again.

Personally? I really think they could have added a bunch more humor. The jokes, somewhere around middle of the movie, die as the protagonist blurts out his angst. It's obvious the author was dealing with his own demons and this was the scene to smack them around. But having established a sweet smile so earnestly prior, the tone changes and the protagonist appears suddenly unlikeable and vicious. It's really too bad.

I also have to say, this, coupled with a recent conversation with my partner, I can't help thinking something autobiographic needs to be drawn up. It won't be as funny, but it might be a bit more real.

It's an idea.