I have to confess that I had no idea who Sebastian Maniscalco was before I saw “About My Father” over the weekend.
Honestly, I probably had him confused with about seven other stand-up comedians I’ve seen in Netflix or Comedy Central specials and snippets.
However, having him play the opposite of the well-known and original ‘goodfella’ himself – Robert De Niro – it was a no-brainer to catch the film after I saw the trailer.
At the age of 79, De Niro has been in Hollywood films longer than I’ve been alive and I always enjoy his portrayal of characters.
And he didn’t disappoint, even though I felt like seeing him in spray tan makeup with a ponytail is something I’ll be glad to forget about.
About My Father is a comedy film directed by Laura Terruso from a screenplay by Sebastian Maniscalco and Austen Earl.
The film stars Maniscalco and is loosely based on his life and his relationship with his father, played by Robert De Niro.
Leslie Bibb, Anders Holm, David Rasche, and Kim Cattrall co-star in supporting roles.
The movie is rated PG-13 for suggestive material, language, and partial nudity and clocks in at 98 minutes long.
The film opens with Sebastian (Maniscalco) explaining how his father Salvo (De Niro) emigrated from Sicily to Chicago.
There are plenty of old snapshots and sequences showing what it was like for Sebastian growing up as a first-generation American to a hairdresser father.
Sebastian’s voice-over and commentary sets the stage for plenty of comedic chances for the audience to enjoy.
The only real downside I noticed is that not much is mentioned about his mother, but, it’s clear they have a healthy relationship.
Besides, this is about Sebastian and Salvo finding a new understanding with each other.
In the present, Sebastian informs Salvo about his plan to propose to his American girlfriend Ellie Collins (Bibb).
Ellie happens to be Sebastian’s polar opposite in many ways including being a struggling artist from a fairly wealthy and influential hotelier family.
Headed by Bill (Rasche) and Tigger Collins (Cattrall), Ellie also has both an older and younger brother with Lucky (Holm) and Doug (Dier), respectively.
Bill runs the hotel side of the family business, Tigger is in politics while Lucky treats some of the wealthier hotel clients to unique experiences and Doug is training himself to be a New Age healer – all in all, a much different family than what Salvo or Sebastian are used to dealing with.
Sebastian asks his father for his grandmother’s ring so he can propose to Ellie at her family’s summer home during some 4th of July festivities.
Unfortunately for him, Salvo insists on joining them for a weekend with her parents so that he can see for himself what kind of family Ellie comes from.
Plus, since this would be the first 4th of July without Sebastian’s mother, Salvo is at a loss for dealing with his time-honored family traditions.
Salvo’s ultimate decision will determine if he gives the family heirloom ring over to his son or not.
Despite the initial culture clashes between their families and first impressions of having nothing in common, they eventually become a single, unified family by the end of the summer holiday weekend.
Overall, the film is pretty funny and features a fairly decent cast working towards a bit of “blended family” harmony.
