Directed by Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) — Screenplay by Liz Maccie.
Stephen Chbosky’s Nonnas is a biographical dramedy that follows Joe Scaravella (played by Vince Vaughn), an Italian-American man, who is grieving the loss of his mother. Hoping to honor her and his grandmother’s memory, Joe, against the wishes of his closest friend Bruno (played by Joe Manganiello), uses his mother’s life insurance money to open a restaurant in her name wherein Italian grandmothers — ‘nonnas’ — will cook the dishes they know best. But that is easier said than done, as the grandmothers have a lot of opinions about how things are done in the kitchen and, notably, because Joe has no idea how much it’ll take to open a restaurant. Meanwhile, Joe hopes to rekindle an old romance with his high school sweetheart named Olivia (played by Linda Cardellini).
There’s definitely a world where this movie got a theatrical release and did well for itself. In the post-The Bear world, this feels like a very old-fashioned feel-good cooking dramedy. It’s a narrative about finding love and overcoming grief through food and family recipes that hold the key ingredients to unlocking cherished memories or tastes that can, even if just for a moment, bring us back to a time, a place, or a moment. If that idea sounds familiar, then I see your point. It’s not exactly the most original idea in the world, but it does have its charms.
It’s certainly not the best of its kind, as there are plenty of elements here that are merely serviceable (including the main performances), and it also certainly isn’t Chbosky’s best work. Nevertheless, there’s something really nice and warm about it. It is a predictable and formulaic flick that is still, however, very watchable due to it feeling like comfort food. As we say in Denmark, it’s a ‘hyggelig‘ film. It may not be particularly great, but it makes for a cozy and warm experience that you can take in easily. Every so often, I would point out the been-there-done-that, by-the-book structure of the narrative or make a gripe about the sequencing of shots feeling out of place, but, nonetheless, the film held me in the palm of its hand through its simple charms, including the emotional beats and, yes, the titular Nonnas, who are all very entertaining to watch in moments.
It made me think about everything from The Bear and Jon Favreau’s Chef to Martin Scorsese’s Italianamerican, but I say that even though, frankly, Nonnas isn’t as good as any of those three films or shows. I wrote above that there’s a world where this would’ve done well in theaters, but, at the same time, I think Netflix is also a pretty good home for this. Because I think it makes for a really nice and simple weekend viewing, if you just want to chill out on the couch with loved ones and reminisce about good food and family, but also the love that, for many, has a tendency to connect the two.
6.5 out of 10
– Review written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 