By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Émile Gaudreault
Starring: Claudia Ferry | Ginette Reno | Luke Kirby | Mary Walsh | Paul Sorvino | Peter Miller
Country: canada
Year: 2003
Running time: 99
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0330602/combined
Bruce says: “MAMBO ITALIANO, a coming-out comedy from Canada, does have its moments. Perhaps that is damning with faint praise. While there are some things to like, some scenes which made me laugh, I am left with a notion of lost opportunities and aims which miss their mark in spite of good intentions.
“Angelo (Luke Kirby) was branded the high school fag. He was tormented by the high school jocks and abandoned by his best childhood friend, Nino (Peter Miller). He seems to have taken all of this in stride, entering his young adulthood. He wants to be a writer but works as a travel agent. He is writing a TV movie about the American Civil War, not a particularly welcome topic in his native Montreal. Angelo is in the closet to everyone but his sister.
“His parents hate fags (what ethnic group likes them?) and dream of the days when he will marry and produce grandchildren. His sister is not particularly attractive but it’s her neurosis that has her parents giving up hope for the possibility of her extending the family.
“Then one pivotal day Angelo’s apartment gets robbed. Nino, now a cop, purposely answers the call so he can help out his old friend and set the record straight. Well not exactly straight if you catch my drift. Thus the real text of this drama begins – how to have a meaningful gay relationship yet keep up straight appearances to family, friends and co-workers. As Angelo’s parents and Nino’s mother find out about their sons’ homosexual relationship all hell breaks loose. Such intense drama makes great fodder for great comedy. Films such as MA VIE EN ROSE and KISSING JESSICA STEIN have approached similar situations with greater comic flair and much more imagination.
“Part of the problem lies with Gino and Maria, Angelo parents played by Paul Sorvino and Ginette Reno. They literally trip over their ethnicity. Most of the time they come off as pathetic, not funny. Nino’s mother Lina (Mary Walsh) is quite the opposite. Using humor, all the points regarding her ethnicity, prejudice and dogged determination are well made.
“Anna, the neurotic sister, (Claudia Ferri) has some great comedic moments, too, as she goes from one shrink to another because it is against her principles to see the same shrink two weeks in a row. While Anna is making her rounds, Nino is planning a wedding to Pina, a girl whom his mother tried to pair up with Angelo at an ill fated dinner, and Angelo is calling the gay hotline out of desperation.
“Angelo finally figures things out through his writing. And he does find happiness in the end. As their son becomes successful, Gino and Maria put all that fag business on the back burner. After all, who wants to argue with success?” 3 cats