About My Father Movie Review

After three Meet the Parents movies, it’s strange to see Robert De Niro playing an irritable parent in another movie with the same premise. But unlike the comedy where he partnered with Ben Stiller, he played an ex-CIA spy who had a deep dislike for his future son-in-law and was overly protective of his family. In About My Father, he plays an Italian hairdresser who is in love with his hotel manager son and feels he won’t fit in with his son’s girlfriend’s super rich parents. Unlike the previous films, his character is more relatable and human. There are a lot of jokes, one of which involves a pet peacock being served as dinner, but overall it all feels genuine. To give it a full Bollywood context, it feels like a Govinda-Kader Khan film, minus the over the top melodrama and dance numbers.

Sebastian Maniscalco is a famous stand up comic who has played supporting roles in films such as Green Book (2018) and The Irishman (2019). About My Father is his attempt to play a leading man. His personality is quite likeable and he has the acting skills, not to mention good comic timing. The film is based on his experiences with his own Italian immigrant father, who came to America from Sicily when he was 15 and became a hairdresser.

Sebastian Maniscalco (playing himself) is the manager of a Chicago-based boutique hotel who falls in love with Ellie Collins (Leslie Bibb), an enigmatic painter. She is the daughter of millionaires Bill (David Rash) and Tiger (Kim Cattrall), who own a chain of luxury hotels. He wants to propose to her during the Fourth of July holiday, the only problem is that he wants to give her an heirloom ring that her father, hairdresser Salvo (Robert De Niro), doesn’t want to give up. Salvo, who is completely old school, thinks that Sebastian and Ellie are completely different. The two are invited to stay with Ellie’s family at an upscale club and slowly, a series of ridiculous misadventures begin that threaten Sebastian and Ellie’s impending union.

The situations in the film are very funny and the dialogues are also witty. Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro both have impeccable comic timing and it’s great to see them go off against each other. They come across as a father and son duo who love each other despite their differences. The scenes with them are the soul of the film. De Niro loves to feed off his co-stars and his scenes with Kim Cattrall are also funny. There is no villain in the film. The wealthy in-laws try to exert their influence over Sebastian and Ellie, but quickly back off when they realize their mistake. There is no such big controversy. Everyone behaves well towards each other and resolves their differences easily. But this isn’t disturbing at all as the laughter keeps flowing.

Watch the film for the conversation between Sebastian Maniscalco and Robert De Niro and also for its good story.