Jane Austen's Mafia! (1998)

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:

Sheep | Ellis Island New York | Flatulence | War Hero | Garden

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:

In keeping with the jokey nature of the proceedings, composer John Frizzell had his name Italianised for the credits into Gianni Frizzelli.

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:

[Emerges soaking wet from a bathroom stall]
Anthony Cortino: El Nino.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs JFK (1991)

Soundtrack:

Joy of Living

Not great

Jim Abrahams has written several of my favorite fast-paced comedies, like "Hot Shots" and "The Naked Gun", and of course my favorite "Airplane!". This was the first movie that i felt it was obvious he was losing his touch. The comedy is not as fast-paced here as it was before, nor is it as spot-on. Spoofing the "Godfather"-movies shouldn't be very hard really. Those movies are as potentially silly as great movies always are, walking the thin line that greatness is.

The problem here is that i think they missed so many things that could have been spoofed, and they included some things that didn't need spoofing. The best part of the movie in my opinion is the one with the young Cortino coming to America. The more contemporary parts are less funny and more silly. Mostly i find it to be a lack in the script department as both Lloyd Bridges and Jay Mohr are pretty suitable for their parts.

In the end this is about 50 percent embarrassing and 50 percent funny, much like many of Leslie Nielsens later movies. It's far from "Hot Shots" and "Naked Gun" but then again such comedy is not what it was.