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<\/p>\nI don\u2019t quite know what to make of Mafia Mamma. This is the new film from Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) and features both Australia\u2019s own Toni Collette (who also serves as a producer on the project) and Monica Bellucci. It\u2019s from an original short story by prolific French writer Amanda Sthers, and was adapted by J. Michael Feldman and Debbie Jhoon. They collaborated on the well-received TV series A.P. Bio. But for all its credentials, there’s something \u201coff\u201d about it.<\/p>\n
Much like its main character, the film feels adrift. It touches on familiar tropes of the Mafia movie but tries to shoehorn wacky comedy and romance into the mix. Or maybe its a rom-com trying to shoehorn crime into the mix – who knows? Either way, the elements don\u2019t gel. Imagine trying to mash-up Under the Tuscan Sun with Sicario. It\u2019s too screwball to be a serious crime film, but too violent to be a pleasant romance; so it ends up being neither.<\/p>\n
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Collette plays Kristin Balbano, an American mom who\u2019s just sent her son Domenick (Tommy Rodger) off to college. That leaves her at home with layabout husband Paul (Tim Daish). But on the same day that Kristin discovers Paul has been cheating on her, she receives a message that her grandfather has died in Italy and she needs to go there to \u201csort out his affairs\u201d. Although wary at first, Kristin is convinced by her best friend Jenny (Sophia Nomvete) to take the chance for an Italian sojourn to get over Paul. On arrival in Rome, Kristin discovers she has acquired two minders in the form of Aldo (Francesco Mastroianni) and Dante (Alfonso Perugini). They escort her to the Balbano compound in the hills outside the city, where she meets Bianca (Bellucci), her grandfather\u2019s loyal assistant.<\/p>\n
Rushed arrangements for the funeral mean Kristin is swept up in the moment. But things take a nasty turn when gunmen fire on the funeral procession. In the aftermath, Bianca explains that Kirstin\u2019s grandfather was in fact Don Giuseppe Balbano, a feared Mafia boss. He was killed in a shoot-out with the rival Romano family, who were also responsible for the attack at the funeral. Don Giuseppe\u2019s last wish was for his direct blood descendant, Kirstin, to take over the \u201cfamily business\u201d – much to the chagrin of hot-headed gang capo Fabrizio (Eduardo Scarpetta). But Kristin isn\u2019t all that interested in being a Mob boss – she\u2019s far more taken with hunky local Lorenzo (Giulio Corso).<\/p>\n
Mafia Mamma felt to me like a \u201csalad\u201d movie. A little crime, a little romance, a little self-improvement, a little violence, a little Italian travelogue – toss them all together and see what comes out. For me though, it was even less than the sum of its parts. I found the tone all over the place, the dialogue often stilted and the acting inconsistent. I will say, though, the twist is pretty good. Even though that twist wasn\u2019t exactly original, Hardwicke handled it so deftly it was still a surprise. Another plus is Patrick Murguia\u2019s warm cinematography that makes the most of the locations in Lazio.<\/p>\n
In the end, it all comes back to the script. Without a clear narrative driver, the limps along from one scene to another. The characters are generally either one-dimensional; or just plain horrible. I never really bought the central transformation of Kristin from suburban homemaker to Mafia heavyweight and cold-blooded killer. Feldman and Jhoon try to equate Kristin\u2019s rise within the crime family with moving on after a break-up. That\u2019s a bold take, but it falls kind of flat. Murder and drug trafficking don\u2019t usually sit well with an \u201ceat, pray, love\u201d philosophy. Incidentally, the film name-checks Eat, Pray, Love (the book) and The Godfather (the movie); so you can\u2019t say it doesn\u2019t lay out where it\u2019s going.<\/p>\n