MAMBO ITALIANO (2003) / ** 1/2
Directed by Émile Gaudreault. Screenplay by Gaudreault, based on the play by Steve Galluccio. Starring Luke Kirby, Paul Sorvino, Ginette Reno. Running time: 88 minutes. Rated AA for offensive language by the MFCB. Reviewed on October 5th, 2003.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: Angelo Barberini (Kirby) is the oddball son of Italian immigrants Gino (Sorvino) and Maria (Reno), who inadvertently ended up in Canada rather than the States. Angelo shocks his parents by moving out on his own without getting married, and shocks them further still when he reveals that he's gay. But his boyfriend, policeman Nino Paventi (Peter Miller) isn't as ready to come out of the closet -- especially not to his busybody mother, Lina (Mary Walsh).
Review: Those who enjoyed last year's "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" will no doubt find much to appreciate in "Mambo Italiano". Though it's not a clone of the Nia Vardalos vehicle, the two films share a number of traits. For instance, both are broad-appeal comedies in spite of the fact that they use cultural differences as a springboard -- they might poke gentle fun (either at their respective eponymous ethnicities or at the comparative deficiencies of North American society) but it's all in jest. Both movies also wear their origins as stage performances on their sleeves. The result is that the characters are slightly over the top, the jokes are a tad more, well, stagey and the dramatic elements are a little tougher to swallow. It's "Mambo Italiano" which suffers more from the latter, because there really is a serious core to its story. More than ever, the public perception of homosexuality is a hot-button issue -- certainly, it makes the acrimony surrounding "Wedding"'s cross-cultural marriage seem tame by comparison. Consequently, "Mambo Italiano"'s antics come across as a little more incongruous, and the movie as a whole seems somewhat uneven. Still, Kirby offers a multifaceted performance, and Sorvino and Reno are great as Angelo's parents. And even though "Mambo Italiano" probably won't inspire a limp prime time sitcom... maybe that's not such a bad thing.
Copyright © 2003 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html
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