Mafia Mamma is a 2023 action comedy film directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Lords of Dogtown, Twilight, Miss Bala), from a screenplay by Michael J. Feldman and Debbie Jhoon. Is is based on an original story by Amanda Sthers.

While seeing to her long estranged (and now deceased) grandfather’s affairs in Italy, a mild mannered suburban mom unexpectedly inherits his mafia empire and finds herself stuck in the middle of a deadly mob war. Guided by the firm’s trusted consigliere, she hilariously defies everyone’s expectations, including her own, as the new head of the family business.

The cast includes Toni Collette, Monica Bellucci, Giulio Corso, Eduardo Scarpetta, Rob Huebel, and Livia De Paolis.

Mafia Mamma made its debut in theaters April 14th, courtesy of Bleecker Street.

THE GOOD

Needless to say, Mafia Mamma wasn’t exactly circled on my calendar, but I love Toni Collette and the premise intrigued me. If you are a regular reader of my reviews, you’d know that I try and approach a movie with an open mind and with the understanding of what the movie is trying to accomplish. In no way shape or form is a movie like this trying to gain awards consideration or resonate with viewers on a deeper level, it has one goal and that is to entertain. Nothing more, nothing less. So I made my way to the theater with tempered expectations, hoping for a fun hour and a half with lots of laughs. So, was it worth my time? Keep reading to find out!

For the most part Mafia Mamma is as advertised, an easy to enjoy action comedy that has a clear goal from the start. It wasn’t as funny as I hoped it would be and the tone was a little weird, but I will talk more about that later in the review. The premise was simple and well executed, making it feel relatively realistic considering how far-fetched it is and that was certainly a positive in my mind. I thought Collette’s character was fun and relatable, and the goofiness of the film keeps things pretty light although the film can be pretty graphic at times hence the R-rating.

Two things will get people in the seats for Mafia Mamma, Toni Collette, and the overall story. People love a good mafia movie, and the film includes a bunch of references to classics like Goodfellas which I though was pretty cool. The story is simple yet effective in the sense that it is able to quickly set the stage for how Collette’s character finds herself at the head of the table for an Italian Mafia family. I thought they included just enough believable backstory to keep viewers engaged, and I had fun with the comedic twist on the cutthroat mentality of these Mafia families. Mafia Mamma never really takes itself too seriously, which is good and bad which I will talk about more later as well.

Toni Collette is the biggest name attached to the film and I thought she was great in terms of the character she was given. She was believable as this overly emotional pushover suburban mom, which added the much needed level of intrigue in terms of what happens next. I really liked Monica Bellucci in her role, and thought she did a fantastic job alongside Collette. When I envision a woman described as irresistibly sexy in a very intense and exotic way, Bellucci comes to mind, but I will keep my fantasies to myself. The supporting cast was fine, mostly forgettable performances but it was sort of par for the course as far as the screenplay.

Mafia Mamma sort of feels like a satire in the way that is pays tribute to old Mafia films, but not in a negative way. Now it could be perceived as mocking them, but it felt to me like it was paying homage while also adding a comedic spin for its own benefit. I enjoyed all of the references, and by the end I was ready to go home and start binge watching some of my favorites, with a recent classic being The Town, but as Mafia Mamma makes clear from the very beginning, Goodfellas will always be one of the best all-time classics of the genre.

THE BAD

Mafia Mamma is a far cry from perfect, and has several issues. One of the primary draws of the movie is obviously Toni Collette, and although I enjoyed her performance, I felt like her abilities as an actress were wasted or overlooked for the most part. I would have loved to have seen more of a Walter White to Heisenberg transformation for Collette especially considering she is more than capable, but the writers instead decided to play it safe keeping the film from reaching its full potential. They also decided to keep the feel more goofy than serious for the majority of the film, but it was also confusing at times thanks to what I felt was a very uneven tone. The acting was fine in general, but not great.

The technical elements of the film were brutal, especially the action scenes, mainly the gunfight at the end. I mean they were bad, the guns sounded like toy guns, and just the action sequences in general looked like the stunt coordinators decided to take the day off. I won’t knock the team in charge of the blood and gore, although it was minimal, because they did a nice job with it. The pacing was a bit slow at times with a few scenes that felt unnecessary adding very little to the film.

THE VERDICT

A flawed but still fun and easy to enjoy goofy action comedy with a talented leading lady, Mafia Mamma is a nice change of pace but suffers from an inconsistent tone and mediocre writing. Could it have been much better? Sure, I wish they would have settled on the tone they were going for and a few more quality laughs would have been nice, but I enjoyed this movie for what was and have no problem recommending it as long as people go in knowing what to expect. But waiting for a release on VOD in a few months would be fine too.