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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

64
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We Are Wizards
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What Just Happened?
89
Man on Wire
85
Slumdog Millionaire
84
Momma's Man
84
Christmas Tale, A
84
Happy-Go-Lucky
83
Trouble the Water
83
U2 3D
82
Tell No One
82
Rachel Getting Married
82
Frozen River
82
Let the Right One In
81
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
79
Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains
78
I've Loved You So Long
77
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
76
Betrayal - Nerakhoon, The
75
Pool, The
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
72
I Served the King of England
71
Frost/Nixon
70
I.O.U.S. A
69
Ashes of Time Redux
69
Fear(s) of the Dark
68
August Evening
68
Hunger
67
Synecdoche, New York
64
Appaloosa
63
JCVD
63
Eden
63
Changeling
62
Duchess, The
59
We Are Wizards
57
Special
57
Sixty Six
56
Religulous
55
Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The
55
What Just Happened?
54
Battle in Seattle
54
Good Dick
53
RocknRolla
51
Morning Light
50
Breakfast with Scot
47
How About You
47
Choke
46
Dukes, The
43
Tru Loved
43
Gardens of the Night
41
Cthulhu
40
Igor
40
Other End of the Line, The
34
My Name Is Bruce
34
Otto; or Up with Dead People
32
Repo! The Genetic Opera
31
Hounddog
30
Guitar, The
28
Fireproof
27
Lake City
26
House of the Sleeping Beauties
26
Filth and Wisdom
xx
Dostana
xx
Black Balloon, The
xx
Let Them Chirp Awhile
xx
Local Color
xx
Nobel Son
xx
Extreme Movie
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Mambo Italiano
Samuel Goldwyn Films
MPAA RATING: R for language and sexual situations
Starring
Luke Kirby,
Ginette Reno,
Johnny Griffin,
Paul Sorvino,
Claudia Ferri,
Peter Miller,
Mary Walsh, Tara Nicodemo,
and
Pierrette Robitaille
Adapted from the successful play by the same name, the movie explores further the subtleties and complexities of a quintessential Italian family -- a family straddling the cultures, traditions, and mores of the old and new worlds. (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Émile Gaudreault
Steve Galluccio (play)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Émile Gaudreault
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: February 17, 2004
Video: February 17, 2004
Theatrical: September 19, 2003
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
88 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Canada |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
75
Entertainment Weekly
Scott Brown
This is feel-good filmmaking, to be sure, but the culture clash here is more than a meaningless vehicle for fizzy wish fulfillment. The not-unpleasant result is hearty Italian fare with the half-life of Chinese takeout.

70
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
Intent on offering viewers a good time yet manages to sneak in considerable substance in a disarming, even old-fashioned manner.

63
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
So desperately eager to please: Gaudreault doesn't offer much in the way of wit or originality, but he's determined to win us over with sheer enthusiasm.

63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Patterns itself after the Greek model -- that is, more ethnic humour with a contemporary twist.

63
Boston Globe
Janice Page
No sophisticated dance, but it moves about with an open heart. And hey, it's at least as funny as that Greek thing.

60
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Beneath the heavy accents, wild gesticulating, slaps to the head and garish flocked wallpaper, there's an awful lot of heart.

60
Empire
Caroline Westbrook
Lacks sparkle, and finally tips its gallery of colourful protagonists into the realm of caricature.

60
Variety
David Rooney
The broad comedy is somewhat strained and obvious, and the hyper-real atmosphere encourages the cast to slice the prosciutto a little thickly. But the film's sweet-natured ingenuousness proves reasonably contagious.

50
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
You don't have to be gay or Italian or live in Canada to enjoy Mambo Italiano, but a tolerance for ethnic mugging helps.

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Carla Meyer
A coming-out comedy that mines every cliche of cloistered Italian culture. But like "Greek Wedding," Mambo has enough funny moments to save it.

50
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
Likable but relentlessly trivial.

50
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
The "Big Fat Wedding" formula dictates a certain amount of ugly-duckling fantasy along with the ethnic scenery chewing.

50
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
There are laughs in the movie, and a lot of good feeling, but it seems more interested in its Italian stereotypes than its gay insights.

50
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
Unless you think "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was the height of genius, there's little reason to sit though another version.

42
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
More than painful to behold, it's simply insincere in a film determined to undermine gay stereotypes.

40
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
If Gaudreault's 90-minute pilot ever makes it to television, French-Canadians can look forward to their own Italian version of A.K.A. Pablo.

40
The Hollywood Reporter
Frank Scheck
Ethnic and sexual stereotypes receive equally clumsy treatment in this Canadian comedy.

40
The New York Times
Dave Kehr
As Angelo, Mr. Kirby has a boyish charm, which is probably the best that can be said for this film as well.

40
Village Voice
Ed Halter
Old annoying ethnic family stereotypes meet new annoying gay-relationship stereotypes in this candidate for "Kiss Me Guido's" heretofore uncontested niche.

40
LA Weekly
Chuck Wilson
More dispiriting than the caricatured Italian families is the sense that, by picture's end, the filmmakers have neutered Angelo, so that his sexual energy is dulled, made non-threatening -- the perfect son after all.

38
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
This film might have been daringly funny 10 years ago, even with its broadest elements intact. Now it's comfortable as old slippers and unthreatening as a sleeping kitten.

33
Portland Oregonian
Kim Morgan
The script is inane, and though Ferri has some funny moments, the acting is annoying or hopelessly bland.

30
Dallas Observer
David Ehrenstein
If any further indication were needed of the fact that gay has gone mainstream, this flaccid farce provides definitive proof, for it's as forced and unfunny as subpar Sandra Dee.

25
Premiere
Addison MacDonald
Perfectly harmless but by no means cinematic. It is unapologetically vying for the same moviegoers that "Greek Wedding" connected with last summer.

20
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Lacks that outrageous effrontery that might have socked it to its intended audience.

20
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
Disappointing flop that is best left off your dance card.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
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