Sebastian Maniscalco stars in and co-writes this film based partially on his real life and his relationship with his father. In About My Father, Sebastian plays a version of himself: a boutique hotel manager who’s in love with a fine artist named Ellie, played by Leslie Bibb. He wants to propose to his girlfriend and make a good impression with her parents. This correlates with July 4th family getaway to Ellie’s parents’ summer home, and Ellie suggests Sebastian bring his father, Salvo, played by Robert DeNiro. The film is built on this culture clash between an Italian immigrant and the WASPy parents of Ellie. Her parents, Bill and Tigger, played by David Rasche and Kim Cattrall, respectfully. Along with her brothers Lucky and Doug, played by Anders Holm and Brett Dier.
The movie is interesting to me because it’s about Sebastian worried about his immigrant father interacting with these rich people who, honestly, from my Black American perspective, are played more like a race clash movie even though everyone is white. It feels like a movie that would feel more at home in the sixties than Twenty Twenty-Three. Like is there that much of a culture clash between Italian Americans and other European-descended Americans these days? It felt like it was played like something you’d expect to see from a Latin American marrying into a wealthy white family or even one of the many post-Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner White and Black clash movies. With all that said, Maniscalco and DeNiro are good together, and they both work comedic timing-wise. Cattrall also made me laugh a few times. However, I feel the two brothers didn’t really work and were a bit over the top as their stereotypical characters. Holm’s Lucky is just the wealthy firstborn son not much there and no actual conflict with anyone. Dier, who I know can do more from his time on Jane the Virgin, is just a hippie-styled youngest son. He’s very hollow and does things like play sound bowls and discuss the family’s privileges. That’s the whole joke.
Even though I laughed at the movie a few times (I think the most in the theater), it did feel like this should’ve been a direct-to-streaming release. It’s not something that can really hold a viewer’s attention, even with its short runtime. Most of the characters don’t feel fleshed out even by the end of the film, and the central conflict of these two lovers dealing with their overbearing parents would’ve been a better focus than just DeNiro is too Italian and doesn’t get how rich people spend money all the time. You should sit this out, wait, and watch it at home if you want to see it.
Score: D+
