Mafia Mamma

 This review may contain spoilers!

 

Mafia Mamma follows Kristin, whose son leaves for college, her husband cheats on her and she inherits an Italian Mafia all within the same week. I went into this movie with low to no expectations, I didn't seem like the right demograph at all. My joy was watching this thing and discovering it was more of a parody of Mafia films, Mafia romance novels and the type of comedies Diane Keaton does about twice a year with a genuinely interesting character development and empowerment arc threaded through. There's a real camp and over the top quality to the humour that is consistent from the start, when the film uses it's comedic style to tease the genre or the absurdity of the very concept it is engaged in scenes often work extremely well. What I actually really enjoyed about this feature was how unapologetically empowering Kristin's story was. Her entire character growth is her going from no power, at the beck and call of her husband, son and male boss to being her own boss and being happy in herself. I like that this film never compromised on Kristin; you saw her as a kind figure with good values, she was a good Mum but she also wasn't being treated well. The entire mafia aspect and genre is a big push for her character to discover empowerment in herself and I actually thought they captured that remarkably well.

The soundtrack for the film really was something quite brilliant, one of the better assemblies of songs used for comedic potential.

 

Monica Bellucci, who played Bianca, is absolutely great as the overtly serious and wise right hand to Collette's Mafia boss; I found the homoerotic tension Bellucci played up between herself and Collette to be sidesplittingly camp and funny. Alessandro Bressanello, who played Don Giuseppe Balbano, isn't in this for long but actually feels the part of a stern Mafia head; yet what I admired about Bressanello was the convincing display of love lost he felt over his family that he gave in a monologue he wasn't delivering to anyone else but a camera. Eduardo Scarpetta, who played Fabrizio, was a role that took me a little to warm up to but once he got going I really could dig it; Scarpetta just crafts Fabrizio as the wild card of the feature which ultimately made for a decent antagonist. Jay Natelle, who played Hank, is a character you will just endlessly hate in this film which is down to a solid performance; Natelle finds all the right ways to make this character overbearing and impossible to like in very few scenes which makes this role a nice weight around our protagonist and her growth. Sophia Nomvete, who played Jenny, is actually hilarious as Collette's boisterous no-holds barred friend; Nomvete is immediately the sort of friend who comes off as extremely loyal and a good guiding light. Giulio Corso, who played Rudy, is extremely charismatic and the sort of dream romance for Collette's character; Corso also knows how to flip the switch and make his role easy to dislike over the course of a change in Act. Giuseppe Zeno, who played Carlo Romano, has a very dark charisma that makes him both alluring and dangerous; Zeno's ability to portray a cunning mob boss sets him apart from all the other mob bosses in the film. Vincenzo Pirrotta, who played 'Mammone' Romano, is fantastic as a more traditional portrayal of a Mafia boss; Pirrotta exhibiting willd outbursts and a drive towards aggression really makes him stand out.

However, the best performance came from Toni Collette, who played Kristin. The past few films I've seen from Collette have been very serious, dramatic roles so that was a really fun change. The character of Kristin is so meek and goodly when first we meet her, she is very caring and attentive to those in her family. But there is a small sort of hurt and insecurity that grows for her, you see it in her work scenes and in the scenes in which she considers going to Italy. This all races to a head in the scene where Collette discovers her husband (Daish) cheating on her; the scene really feels disarming and Collette plays it well by giving this reaction you cannot expect. As the film paces along and you see her freak out as she stumbles into the world of the Mafia, you get all the great gags and quirky dialogue played up from that point. I also really liked how Collette played her character's goal for a sexual relationship, the way she was seeking out a fling and not anything serious was a great touch. I loved watching Collette grow Kristin into a tougher figure, one who could lead a Mafia empire and hold her rivals at gunpoint by the end of the feature.

The biggest problem I had with the film was the actual Mafia elements, any time this film tried to take itself seriously with the crime plot elements it almost immediately fell over. But worse than this I actually really thought the generic Italian Mafia portrayal with the copious Godfather references, stereotyped dialogue and thin poisoner/hitman subplots was spectacularly weak writing. There was a clever comedy going on around it and a fantastic lead but positioning the Italian setting and characters like this felt patronising and poorly written/directed. I also left this theatre feeling pleasantly surprised but I was also aware the film really didn't know who it was for. This is too comedic to satisfy the Mafia/crime fans but it's also way too gory to squarely appeal to the older cinema goers looking for a comedy. There is a real muddled style in presentation that I found difficult to overcome, and I think general moviegoers would be hard pressed against it too. 

The film has a few location-based shots with some flavour but really the cinematography here lacks imagination and is comfortable with very simple static pieces. The editing was also quite a rigid pace and the film really had an inconsistent pace throughout. The score for Mafia Mamma was another generic whack at Italy and Mafia films; I felt they could have found their own sound had they looked but there was no desire for anything distinct.

Tommy Rodger, who played Domenick, really didn't feel connected to his onscreen family at all; Rodger's complete lack of chemistry coupled with his generic portrayal of a kid off to college made for one of the weaker performances. Tim Daish, who played Paul, was another component of the onscreen family that just didn't work; I could nod and understand that Paul was a jerk but I never once could find myself convinced that Daish's character would have romantic history with Collette. Francesco Mastroianni and Alfonso Perugini, who played Also and Dante respectively, are the bumbling characters in this film and generate some of my least favourite kinds of comedy; this pair just gets to clown their way through scenes and often entirely divert the tone of the feature.

I was entirely surprised by this, a real demonstration of Toni Collette's stupendous talent that a concept like this is made to work. I would give Mafia Mamma a 6.5/10.