Movie Review: Mafia Mama

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

An enjoyable, if unremarkable comedy.

This film may not be the next great comedy, but it does provide one with a nice trip to the movies. While the film is not consistently funny, and it has its share of times where the humor doesn't work, the comedic moments that do work are quite funny. In many ways this is a fish out of water comedy that often focuses on this woman who has never been to Italy before and has lived a normal stubborn life, suddenly finding herself as a mafia boss in a strange country to her. While this kind of fish out of water comedy has been done many times before, it is from this part of the story that the film's best comedy comes from. While it does not break any new ground, it is still quite funny and seeing this woman try to adjust to being a mob boss without losing who she is in the process is an inherently funny idea and seeing a mob boss like a suburban mom simply provides some really good comedic potential. While not all of that potential is reached there are definitely some good laughs to be had here. Some good laughs come out of her two bodyguards as well. While they are not complex characters, they are funny and that is just what they need to be. Unfortunately, the humor with the characters from her suburban life provide some of the movie's worst comedy. The scenes with the meetings with her co-workers are painfully unfunny. They rely on simple stereotypes but no laughs come from the stereotypes making them simply annoying and bland. This is pretty much how the comedy in this movie works, sometimes it is really funny and sometimes it is painfully unfunny. 

The storyline in this movie is nothing original nor is it anything that you are going to have a strong emotional reaction to. However it does move at a fast pace and is quite enjoyable for much of the runtime. At the same time though the romantic subplot is simply bland and not interesting. This is heavily because the romance is never allowed to feel real or emotional to us. This is also true of anytime the film tries to get more serious or have a message (there is nothing wrong with this movie's message but it is presented in a very heavy-handed way)> 

This movie has some incredibly violent moments. However with the silly lighthearted comedy through much of the film, this simply feels out of place and though it is very violent it is never over the top enough (in a Deadpool or John Wick sort of way) to add to the fun. Because of this all these violent scenes feel jarring and like they should be in a different film. 

This movie has too many faults to be a great film but it is a very pleasant watch with some funny moments.