I saw the play and hoped that the movie adaptation could be no worse. I was wrong. The main problem with the play and the movie is that it can't decide what period it's depicting. Had it been rooted in the post-war Italian immigration, with the main character growing up in the sixties and coming of age in the seventies, all of this might be more believable. But having it set in present-day Montreal? Not on your life! Paul Servino gives the only credible performance. Ms.Reno loses what I take is supposed to be an Italian accent half-way through the film. Mary Walsh is hopeless from the beginning; I'm still not sure what accent she thought she was doing. Claudia Ferri, playing Anna Barberini, speaks with an Hispanic accent (Why would her character have any accent? She was born in Canada!)Peter Miller, as Nino, is supposed to look good and look conflicted. He does the former well and the latter tolerably well. The lead character of Angelo had been re-written to make him more likeable to a movie audience. This attempt is more or less a success considering how odious the character is in the play. No one will come away from this movie with a single prejudice challenged thereby guaranteeing its success. I'm surprised that the Mafia was not included in a more obvious way. I am a gay Canadian of Italian descent: I squirmed in my seat watching this minstrel show of stereotypes.
Review of Mambo Italiano
