About My Father Review

When two families come together to celebrate the union of their children, it’s always a wonderful thing. A good old family comedy is scarce in this cinematic climate. Sebastian Maniscalco decided to retell the story about growing up with his father and how he was his hero. Sometimes people can lose their way because they’re so set on building their own life away from home that they forget their parents have lives too, and we need to share them with them. Maniscalco honoured his father, Salvo, by casting Robert De Niro to play him and make him as charming as ever.

About My Father has Sebastian (Maniscalco) ready to propose to his girlfriend Ellie (Leslie Bibb) over the Fourth of July weekend. Ellie’s parents are officially comfortable with him because they extended the invite to their White Oaks Country home for the festivities. When Sebastian visits his dad, he kindly asks for his late mother’s ring, but Salvo wants to meet the family face-to-face. Ellie’s family is white and privileged, while Salvo is a hairdresser who moved from Italy to Chicago to give his son a better life. Sebastian understands they come from different worlds but hopes his father isn’t too stubborn to ease things over for the proposal.

Although this feels like Maniscalco’s stand-up material reformatted into a script, it is still a heartfelt family comedy. If you’re a Maniscalco fan and you are Italian, you will appreciate this comedy. De Niro and Maniscalco have great chemistry as father and son. De Niro hasn’t been this emotional and charming in a while. Maniscalco and Austen Earl co-wrote the script and incorporated some sweet family moments. It is an authentic depiction of how Italian parents raise their children, which many can relate to. To round out Ellie’s family, David Rasche, Brett Dier, Anders Holm, and Kim Cattrall also had their moments. They all worked together well to deliver strong comedic beats.

About My Father is a heartfelt family comedy that honours the life of Salvo Maniscalco. It was sweet for Sebastian to turn his father’s immigrant story into a film showing the life of an immigrant from Sicily. De Niro embodied Salvo and showed a different side of him as well. What was great about this film was showing the importance of family and not having to change who you are for other people. It’s accepting where you came from, acknowledging it, and choosing how you want to live your life. The cycle can always be broken or improved upon for the next generations, and that’s what Maniscalco explores here.

3/5

Review By: Amanda Guarragi

#movies #films #moviereviews #filmreviews #1stReviews #AboutMyFather #RobertDeNiro #SebastianManiscalco #LeslieBibb #KimCattrall

Rating all V/H/S/Halloween Segments

Like sorting through your candy after a night of trick-or-treating, V/H/S/ Halloween is a mixed bag. The eighth instalment in this cult-favourite horror anthology series comes up short of previous entries, but there are still a couple of treats in here that should satisfy your twisted cravings. A chilling still from V/H/S/ Halloween . Diet Phantasma This wraparound segment follows an R&D team testing a new low-calorie soda made with “real ghosts.” It’s silly fun, but gets a bit repetitive with each new test subject. The commercial playing during the end credits was a nice touch. Rating: ★★½☆ Coochie Coochie Coo This short feels like walking through a haunted house — but not in a good way. The plot is like something torn from a creepypasta thread. Everything is constantly being spelled out in a painfully obvious way. The practical effects and makeup are decent, and this is probably the only segment that comes close to being scary...

The Mandalorian Season 3 Review

Listen, I love Star Wars. I will always love Star Wars. The original and prequel trilogies were a big part of my childhood, and helped shape my love of cinema. While The Mandalorian isn’t among my favourites in the franchise, I thought it had a promising first season and a significantly stronger season two. Season three had so much potential, but a frustrating lack of focus held it back from greatness. This show’s always had a bit of an identity crisis, but it’s never been as clear as it is here. Does it want to be a procedural-style adventure of the week, or tell an epic, multi-season spanning arc? Season one leaned toward the former, while Season two found a satisfying balance of both. Season three tries to find that balance, but the overarching story it wants to tell is bigger than the few episodes allotted to do so. There are only 8 chapters, some barely over 30 min. That’s a fair...

Boss Level Film Review

Boss Level is a new addition to the time loop genre, with a twist. Ex-special forces officer, Roy Pulver, played by Frank Grillo, relives the same day until he dies. Every day he is hunted by assassins and when killed, he wakes up back in his bed where he started, only to have to try and survive all over again. Roy has no idea why he is stuck in this infinite time loop but he must do what he can to survive, and the longer he survives, the more he uncovers about his particular situation. Unlike most action films that take time to build up, this film gets right into it and offers tons of non-stop combat sequences that would satisfy any lover of action films. Its erratic flow makes for some fun action scenes which come out of nowhere since Roy can expect the assassins to attack at any moment. If you play video games often and have ever been stuck on a level for hours or even days, you know the feeling of having to repeat the same thing over and over again u...

1st Reviews

Search This Blog