Jane Austen's Mafia! (1998)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Jim Abrahams

Writers (WGA):

Jim Abrahams (written by) &
Greg Norberg (written by) ...

Release Date:

24 July 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

See It Early. Avoid the mob.

Plot:

Takeoff on the Godfather with the son of a mafia king taking over for his dying father

Plot Keywords:

Mafia | Casino | Donkey | Boss | Hitman

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jay Mohr	...	Anthony 'Tony' Cortino
Billy Burke	...	Joey Cortino
Christina Applegate	...	Diane Steen
Pamela Gidley	...	Pepper Gianini
Olympia Dukakis	...	Sophia
Lloyd Bridges	...	Vincenzo Cortino
Jason Fuchs	...	Young Vincenzo Cortino
Joe Viterelli	...	Dominick Clamato
Tony Lo Bianco	...	Cesar Marzoni
Blake Hammond	...	Fatso Paulie Orsatti
Philip Suriano	...	Frankie Totino (as Phil Suriano)
Vincent Pastore	...	Gorgoni
Marisol Nichols	...	Carla
Carol Ann Susi	...	Clamato's Wife
Gregory Sierra	...	Bonifacio

Also Known As:

Mafia! (USA) (short title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for crude and sex-related humor, language, violence and drug content.

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Canada:G (Quebec) | Germany:12 | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Tapestry Films

Trivia:

An Italian-American group tried to boycott the film's New York premiere as they felt that it was demeaning to Italians.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the funeral barfing scene, five people make the rainbow in coloured barf. When the camera pans, you can obviously see the tip of the hose on the 3rd or 4th person.

Quotes:

Anthony Cortino: Diane, would you excuse us?
Diane: Oh, yeah, sure. If you need me, I'll be up on the bidet.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs Child's Play (1988)

Soundtrack:

Joy of Living

Kudos For Godfather Spoof

Here's a very funny spoof on The Godfather story. This is a Leslie Nielsen-type silly parody, except the late Lloyd Bridges played the lead role instead Nielson.

Actually Jay Mohr was more of the lead actor in here, narrating the film and taking Al Pacino's Godfather role while Christina Applegate took Diane Keaton's character.

There are a number of laugh-out-loud lines in this movie and a number of overdone slapstick scenes. As with any comedy in which the material comes at you at a rapid pace (see the Marx Brothers films from 70 years ago to see some of the origins of comedic mayhem), you get a lot funny and not-so-funny. They come at you so fast you can hardly keep up. I found that there were a lot of funny lines written on background buildings, street signs, etc. on this film. You almost have to freeze-frame some scenes to "read" all the jokes, much less hear them.

This movie did do something that Hollywood films rarely have done: poke fun at a Democrat. Usually, the cheap shots are reserved for Republcians (Nixon, Gingrich, Reagan, Bush, etc) but here we have the famous "But I never had sex with that woman!" line delivered in a obvious reference. Well, good for them. About time the Liberals were recipients of a cheap shot or two. It only happens about once every 25 years in films. So, I give this film points for being "fair and balanced."

Also points should be awarded for having several actors from the actual Godfather films make appearances here, too. The film was dedicated "in loving memory" to Bridges, so I assume this was his last movie. Well, he certainly went out with a laugh.