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About My Father

2023

Laura Terruso

Sebastian Maniscalco, Robert De Niro, Leslie Bibb, Kim Cattrall ...

4.6

1,164

Comedy When Sebastian tells his old-school Italian immigrant father Salvo that he is going to propose to his all-American girlfriend, Salvo insists on crashing a weekend with her tony parents.

	Media	Author	Review
		Trace Sauveur Austin Chronicle	"One of those tepid studio comedies (...) But one so low-energy, uninspired, and instantly forgettable that you may struggle to remember what you watched (...) Rating: ★½ (out of 5)"
		Odie Henderson Boston Globe	"As you watch it, your mind wanders to places where you saw a particular scene or scenario done better. Sometimes, that other scenario features the same actor."
		Frank Scheck The Hollywood Reporter	"'About My Father' isn’t nearly as funny as it aspires to be, but its saving grace is its lack of mean spirits. Most of the characters are caricatures to some degree, but they’re never viciously mocked"
		Kyle Smith The Wall Street Journal	"Mr. De Niro seems largely to have run out of ideas as an actor, and he harrumphs his way through each scene employing a range of expressions running from frowns to scowls"
		Matt Zoller Seitz rogerebert.com	"De Niro, bless his heart, is the engine that keeps this refurbished jalopy puttering along for 90 minutes. There are a couple of scenes that suggest the stronger, more fascinating movie that might've been (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"
		Mark Kennedy Chicago Sun-Times	"Unfunny (...) weak comedy that revels in stereotypes (...) Rating: ½ (out of 4)"
		Todd Gilchrist Variety	"'About My Father' works because it aims at specific targets but goes big and broad enough to encompass ones outside of the bullseye"
		Adam Graham Detroit News	"'About My Father' leans heavily on situations and tropes that were moldy when De Niro did them in 'Meet the Parents' nearly a quarter century ago"
		Todd McCarthy Deadline	"An over-the-top, under-achieving generational comedy that feels like it was written in the mid- to late-1960s and has been moldering in a drawer ever since."
		James Berardinelli ReelViews	"As it is, 'About My Father' comes across as generic and forgettable. [But] It goes down smoothly enough (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"
		Gary Goldstein Los Angeles Times	"This at times absurdly contrived film often resembles something made up on the fly"
		John Serba Decider	"[It] is 51 percent just fine, 49 percent irritating"
		Nate Richard Collider	"A throwback of a comedy with plenty of heart, 'About My Father' is one of the most pleasant surprises of the year"
		Andrea Thompson Chicago Reader	"[It] feels lazy and tone-deaf"
		Andrew Parker The Gate	"The biggest and most obvious problem with 'About My Father' is that it's a run-of-the-mill comedy that lacks any sort of conviction"
		Michael O'Sullivan The Washington Post	"This a sweet, mostly cute story about the importance of the people we’re related to, peppered with some fairly broad and not especially hilarious yuks (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"
		Glenn Kenny The New York Times	"The movie demonstrates how quickly 'amiable and inconsequential' can shift to 'hackneyed and labored'"
		Jude Dry IndieWire	"Sebastian Maniscalco gives De Niro a vehicle worthy of his comedic talents in the vein of 'Meet The Parents' and 'Analyze This'"
		Mae Abdulbaki Screen Rant	"The film leaves a lot to be desired despite a stellar cast, and is an exercise in wasted potential (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"
		Alex Maidy JoBlo	"It is a harmlessly welcoming comedy that does not tread any new ground but has a good heart"
		James Verniere Boston Herald	"De Niro has been here before. That doesn't make it any less funny at times"
		Brianna Zigler Paste Magazine	"Vacuous comedy 'About My Father' explores white-on-white racism"

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