[Rating: Solid Rock Fist Up]
There’s a new Don in town and she’s here to take names, drink wine, and bake muffins. And she’s all out of wine.
In the best way possible, Toni Collette stars in a new fun feature, Mafia Mamma that will give any mob boss a run for their money. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke, this silly tale of a housewife turned mafia boss is a riot.
Kristin is a middle-aged housewife who becomes an empty-nester and who is separating from her cheating husband. She receives a call from Bianca (Monica Bellucci) across the globe in Italy, saying that her late estranged grandfather has passed away. Seeing this as an opportunity to deal with her life and have an Italian getaway a lá Eat, Pray, Love, Kristin travels to Italy. Right off the plane, she meets Lorenzo (Giulio Corso) who sweeps her off her feet.
After arriving at her family’s villa, she learns that her grandfather wasn’t just a winemaker, but part of the Italian mob. It was his dying wish that she take over the family business to prevent war between various families. Kristin in a comedy of errors fulfills her grandfather’s wishes. She also sees that she’s happier in Italy than she ever has been and wants to help her family’s legacy in more than one way. She begins to revamp the wine business and use a pharmaceutical line as the cover for her not-so-shady dealings. Kristin must make a choice to leave the family business and return back to her mundane suburban life or stay in Italy where it seems she’s most happy and in love with Lorenzo.
Nobody said a movie had to have much substance to it and indeed, Mafia Mamma has none. Instead, it’s a movie that you just go see to go see and have a lot of fun with it. Toni Collette is fucking good in this because she is good in anything she does. She’s been on a streak lately of getting roles where she can have fun, so I’m still going to love her.
There are plenty of Godfather references thrown into this movie and all for the better to make this silly romp through Italy something I could watch again just to have a chuckle. I audibly gasped to see how this movie decided to end. If you’ve seen The Godfather, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
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