About My Father Review: Good-hearted but not warm enough to get you emotionally hooked

Title: About My Father

Director: Laura Terruso

Cast: Sebastian Maniscalco, Robert De Niro, Lesie Bibb, Anders Holm, David Rasche, Brett Dier, Kim Cattrall

Where: In theatres near you

Rating: **

With a good-hearted narrative, About My Father is a formulaic, by-the-numbers, contrived, and bland, self-realisation film.

Designed as a culture-clash comedy this semi-autobiographical film explores the relationship of stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco and his father, Salvo (De Niro), a blue-collared hairstylist who parented him to be the way he is.

Using his real name in the film, Sebastian, a Chicago-based hotel manager, is on the verge of proposing to his long-time girlfriend, Ellie (Leslie Bibb), a painter from a wealthy family. Her father, Bill (David Rasche), owns a chain of hotels, and her mother, Tigger (Kim Cattrall), is a Senator.

Ellie and her parents invite Sebastian to spend the Fourth of July weekend with them at their luxurious summer home in Virginia. He takes it as a sign that her family is ready to integrate him into their clan. So, he approaches his father to collect his mother’s ring, which he is supposed to have inherited.

Salvo refuses to hand over the ring claiming, “I’ll give you the ring after I meet the family,” and he has reasons for his intentions.

Sebastian fears his father would embarrass him with his frugal, old-school mentality before his classy would-be in-laws. However, left with no other choice, he invites his father to come along to his in-laws' place.

Simultaneously nervous about meeting his son’s blue-bloodied prospective in-laws, Salvo, after a series of culture-clash mishaps, starts trying to fit in, prompting Sebastian to question himself, if he is encouraging a betrayal of the sturdy “immigrant upbringing” that his father inculcated in him.

Bonding over the weekend, he realises his folly.

The script, written by Maniscalco and Austen Earl, is not as funny as it aspires to be. Its saving grace is that it lacks characters with a mean streak. Most of the characters, to some degree, appear to be caricatures. Topping the list are Ellie’s brothers, Lucky (Anders Holm) and Doug (Brett Dier).

Maniscalco is appealing in his maiden lead role. He displays the vulnerability of his character, with ease. De Niro as usual is natural. Kim Cattrall as Ellie’s mother, has moments of on-screen glory, especially on the tennis court and when she has a meltdown after Salvo gives her a dramatic makeover just prior to a television appearance. The rest of the cast is slightly over-the-top, nevertheless, they are all tolerable.

Overall, the film, with its plot treading on an overfamiliar, sweet, positive note, seems like a pilot of an OTT network sitcom that is not warm enough to get you emotionally hooked.