A Netflix comedy you should make a reservation for.
Last week I suggested that the Amazon Prime Video sequel “Another Simple Favor” would go great with a nice Italian meal and wine.
This week, I’m suggesting the same thing with the Netflix comedy “Nonnas,” which is based on the true story of how Joe Scaravella opened the Italian restaurant Enoteca Maria in Staten Island with grandmas as the chefs. The term “grandma” would translate to “Nonna” in Italian. This movie not only has great taste in food, but it also has high spirits. The kind when cynicism tries to take over, but optimism and faith kicks in.
We begin with a sunny, happy childhood within an Italian-American family, who loves nothing more than an authentic Italian meal where everything disappears faster than at an all-you-can-eat buffet. And then, we move into a melancholy state as the main character Joe loses his beloved mother and his life starts to lose its magic.
Vince Vaughn stars as Joe, an MTA worker, who is in debt and decides to reboot his life by opening an authentic Italian restaurant with the money his mother left him. His best friend Bruno (Joe Manganiello) thinks it’s too big of a risk, but he’s willing to keep his vision alive, and even Bruno’s wife Stella (Drea de Matteo) tries to be his voice of reasoning. Without his mother and grandmother, Joe decides to use other grandmas to do the cooking. Sorry, I meant to say: “Nonnas.”
They would include the cynical Roberta (Lorraine Bracco), the widowed Antonella (Brenda Vaccaro), the former Nun Teressa (Talia Shire, A.K.A Connie Corleone), and the baker and hair stylist Gia (Susan Sarandon). They have their conflicts but they also have their moments of honesty and fun. And they don’t try as hard as Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, and Jane Fonda did in “Book Club.”
Joe also has to deal with building codes, safety hazards, and how his new development begins to affect his other job. But he also has to deal with the lack of word of mouth, which threatens his business, and it’s not easy to open a restaurant when your only customers are your friends and family. But the movie doesn’t have to be mean-spirited or negative about it. In fact, I was reminded of the kindness presented in the romantic comedy “It Could Happen to You.” They may be different kinds of comedies, but they still have a certain good spirit that reflects the inside and outside.
We don’t get a complete character development, especially when there’s a romance between Joe and his old girlfriend (Linda Cardellini) which is sweet, but we do get characters who are lovable and outspoken. “Nonnas” was directed by Stephen Chbosky, whose last film “Dear Evan Hansen” was so cynical and negative that on my Worst of 2021 list, I said: “Dear Evan Hansen, You’re Movie Sucks.” Now, I’m saying: Dear Stephen Chbosky, You’re Movie is Delicious.” I hope the heeling has begun.
Vaughn has been one my favorite actors growing up, ever since I saw him in “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” and “Old School,” among others. And I also appreciate how he can blend well with other genres, and his AppleTV+ series “Bad Monkey” deserved to be on my Best Shows of 2024 list. And as a producer and star, he delivers with plenty of sauce and equally delightful supporting work from Sarandon, Bracco, Shire, and Vaccaro.
It’s funny because I remember an old “Family Guy” joke in which Vaughn and Sarandon were the stars of a movie called “Two People Who Look Like They Never Get Any Sleep.” And it’s amazing to see them actually working together in “Nonnas.” But that’s not the main reason for this viewing. It represents that the idiom of “the way to man’s heart is through his stomach.” I’m getting pretty hungry myself, so I’ll RSVP.
Streaming on Netflix
