Most days, if given a choice, I enjoy sitting down with a good horror movie. Well, let’s be completely honest, I just as often sit down with a bad horror movie, but you have to keep digging through the stinky stuff to find the nuggets of gold. Some days, however, I go out of my way to check out a movie that seems far removed from anything I would normally choose to watch. I will watch anything and everything, but some movies seem destined to stay lingering at the bottom of the “to watch” pile. That was the case with Mafia Mamma, a film that looked, quite frankly, absolutely dire. It seemed to come and go without anyone noticing, or caring about it, and the main premise (an American woman visits family after the death of her grandfather, then gets herself in the midst of a mafia turf war) is ridiculous.
Toni Collette is the lead here, Kristin, and we soon get to know how selfless and soft her character is. Which makes her even less likely to become a (temporary?) mafia don, although she is encouraged to take on her inherited role by Bianca (Monica Bellucci). It isn’t a world for the weak, and it isn’t often a world for women to lead the way. But after the difficult period of adjustment, realising how many people around her can die at any given moment, Kristin starts to do some good work, and might just be right for her new role. Some remain very unhappy about that, and those people are armed and dangerous.
I am not going to tell anyone that this is essential viewing. I am not going to say that it should be watched ahead of a good 50-100 better movies from the last couple of years. I had some fun with it though. Sometimes you are just in the mood for something light and silly, and this certainly fits the bill, aside from a few inconvenient deaths sprinkled throughout.
Written by J. Michael Feldman (who tends to be billed nowadays as Michael J. Feldman) and Debbie Jhoon, based on a story by Amanda Sthers, this is a pleasing comedy that presents itself honestly from the earliest scenes and allows you to decide whether or not you want to go along for the ride. I recommend people wanting to smile and enjoy a few chuckles just go with it. The repeated refrain of “eat, pray, f**k” alone was enough to amuse me.
Director Catherine Hardwicke is no stranger to silliness, having helmed a certain vampire werewolf love triangle blockbuster some time ago, but this is a very different type of silliness, and she does a perfectly good job of keeping everything as light and optimistic as the main character, even as the situation around her starts to become darker and more dangerous.
It helps a lot that Collette is such a delight in the lead role, playing the kind of character she seems to get so rarely nowadays (aka someone without a horrendous amount of pain and angst to deal with). She is allowed to be shown finding her light again as she moves away from just thinking about the needs of others and finally thinking about her own needs, and it is a joy to watch. Bellucci is also good fun, although she is a bit more one-note in her dedication to maintaining order and running the family business as directed. Sophia Nomvete is an enjoyable addition, as a supportive friend, Tim Daish is also good in his few scenes, as an unsupportive husband, and there are key roles played well by Eduardo Scarpetta, Giulio Corso, Francesco Mastroianni, and Alfonso Perugini.
While I am unlikely to revisit this, and I am just as unlikely to think of it first whenever someone asks me for a movie recommendation, I cannot deny that I enjoyed it while it was on. It was pleasant, a number of little moments surprised me into an extra big laugh (usually down to the fantastic work of Collette), and I would watch a similarly ridiculous sequel. Not sure how many will agree with me though.
6/10
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That does sound fun. It's too bad it's only on Showtime over here. But maybe I'd spend the $2 to rent it from Amazon.
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