BEFORE: Geoffrey Owens carries over from "Ezra". The original plan was to get here via Campbell Scott and "Roger Dodger", but that hardly matters now. I'm here, this is where I planned to be so we can kick off the next chain tomorrow. You may remember Geoffrey from episodes of "The Cosby Show", where he played Elvin on a few (hundred) episodes. At this point I wonder if being known for "The Cosby Show" is helpful or hurtful to an actor's career.
I'm late posting again because I was working at the theater last night, an event which ran long but at least they had their reception before the screening, and they wanted all the food to be thrown away before the screening was over, but I just can't bring myself to throw away a lot of food sometimes. So I came home with a big bowl of corn chips (couldn't save the guacamole) and few pounds of deli meat - like prosciutto, salami, and bresaola (it's like prosciutto, but for beef). I may not be able to eat it all, so I might be throwing away some deli meat in the future, but at least I tried, it was going to be trashed anyway. Some nights I just really wish there was a place I could bring the food leftover from events so it could be distributed to hungrier people, but City Harvest won't pick up anything small and I haven't found a homeless shelter that will take food in from strangers.
Anyway, I had some prosciutto sandwiches and my wife had some salami sandwiches, so now I'm ready to watch today's movie, which is all about Italian food.
THE PLOT: After losing his beloved mother, a man risks everything to honor her by opening an Italian restaurant with actual grandmothers as the chefs.
AFTER: Essentially this is "Big Night" meets "Dodgeball" meets "Book Club" (or any of the other recent movies featuring four older actresses and their personal lives). "Big Night" is a great movie with a lot of beautiful footage of Italian food, and it also has Campbell Scott in it, and of course you know "Dodgeball", which features Vince Vaughn owning an independent gym and taking on the corporate-owned ones. Same idea here, he wants to run an indie restaurant and his business plan is to hire grandmothers and highlight their family recipes.
After the death of his mother, Joe Scaravella is encouraged by friends to use her life insurance money to do something positive, like get some new furniture or update his wardrobe. But after visiting a market in Staten Island he used to visit with his mother and grandmother, he gets the inspiration to invest in a restaurant near the market and serve up not just Italian food, but the good feeling that a meal cooked with love by a family member provides. Sure, there are problems, as he's never run a restaurant before and he's unprepared for all of the city rules regarding safety, inspections, construction and renovation, permits, etc. Thankfully his best friend Bruno is a contractor, although Bruno's not really sold on the concept and also has to work on spec until the restaurant takes off. (What could possibly go wrong?)
Next he puts an ad on CraigsList for nonnas who want to cook - he gets three people from diverse backgrounds, with different recipes based on their heritage (Sicily, Bologna and The Bronx) and one is even a former nun. Well, the biggest challenge is getting these three women to work together, it turns out, but the addition of a pastry chef manages to bring everyone together, because what problem can't be solved by makeovers and alcohol? Seriously, that's a winning combination for the older ladies, am I right? They all contribute items to the menu, even a capuzzelle (look it up) and decide to rotate the sauces weekly to be fair to everyone.
All seems well until there's a massive thunderstorm on opening night, and nobody shows up. Then there's the bigger problem of how to publicize the restaurant, as there's a massive wait for getting a restaurant reviewed and also no critic wants to come out to Staten Island - yeah, that tracks. Honestly I faced a similar problem working for years in the independent animation racket, social media and e-mailed newsletters can be a great equalizer, but you still have to publicize your screenings like crazy, and you just never know if you've done enough. Also you're only as good as your mailing list, and maintaining that is a job in itself. Anyway, Joe even takes some of the restaurant's food directly to a food critic, but it's all just a little too late - it seems he should have started publicizing the restaurant in advance, or getting on the critics' radar much earlier. Oh, well, you live and you learn.
Joe also accidentally re-encounters his high-school girlfriend, and gets the opportunity to apologize to her for messing up on prom night. But she's a widow so there's maybe a chance to start over with her. And he meets a bunch of older Italian ladies who help him honor his mother's memory, so there's that - finally he can get himself to a place where he can grieve and read the last letter his mother wrote to him.
NITPICK POINT: They never told us what was the special ingredient that made Joe's mother's "gravy" so special. It was something sweet, but he tried honey and all forms of sugar and he couldn't quite get it right. But when he finally got the recipe, why not just mention what sweetener she used? It's a glaring omission, if he knows, then we should know too. I freeze-framed on the recipe, but there was nothing sweet listed in the ingredients, except for sweet sausage, but since hot sausage was also acceptable, it couldn't be that. So was it the type of tomatoes she used, or what?
There is a REAL Enoteca Maria, located on Staten Isand, which I'm told is also part of New York City, however I have yet to find hard evidence of that. But sure, OK, let's say that it's part of NYC and there's a restaurant there where they invite guest grandmothers to cook, it's been open for 15 years and they've expanded beyond Italian food, they have guest nonnas from Argentina and Bangladesh and other countries. The Yelp reviews are mixed, because there's apparently some issues with making reservations and the place is only open three nights a week, and all of this pisses people off. Look, I live in Queens and if we want Italian food, we'll go to Patrizia's in Maspeth or Bamonte's in Williamsburg, or Laconda, there are plenty of places closer than Staten Island, that's all.
Which brings me to another NITPICK POINT, Joe lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, but apparently works in Manhattan, as he's seen traveling on the Staten Island ferry to get to his restaurant. But this is a hell of a commute, if you live in Bay Ridge that's a solid hour just to get in to Manhattan, even if you catch an express train. If he goes to all three places every day, that's like four hours of commuting, which nobody in their right mind would do. No wonder he's always late for his job, he should be terribly behind on his sleep as well. From Bay Ridge to Staten Island, it makes much more sense to get there via the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, though I guess he'd need a car for that, but maybe also he could get there by bus? It just doesn't make much sense to get from Brooklyn to Staten Island by way of Manhattan. For a while I worked in Brooklyn and it made sense for me to take a train into Manhattan to catch another train to Brooklyn, but that was a special case. If I lived in Bay Ridge and wanted to open a restaurant, I'd sure look for an open space a lot closer to home, just saying.
Well, it's finally here, DOC BLOCK 2025 starts tomorrow, so check back soon!
Directed by Stephen Chbosky (director of "Dear Evan Hansen")
Also starring Vince Vaughn (last seen in "Queenpins"), Susan Sarandon (last seen in "Speed Racer"), Lorraine Bracco (last heard in "Pinocchio" (2022)), Talia Shire (last seen in "Sly"), Linda Cardellini (last heard in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3"), Brenda Vaccaro (last seen in 'An Accidental Studio"), Joe Manganiello (last seen in "Jay and Silent Bob Reboot"), Drea de Matteo (last seen in "Dark Places"), Michael Rispoli (last seen in "Pain & Gain"), Campbell Scott (last seen in 'The Daytrippers"), Richie Moriarty (last seen in 'Irresistible"), Tammy Pescatelli, Theodore Helm, Jimmy Smagula (last seen in "Rebel in the Rye"), Jamie Eddy (last seen in "Escape Plan 2: Hades"), Adam Ferrara (last seen in "Little Italy"), Jack Casey, Kate Eastman (last seen in "Maestro"), Karen Giordano, Dee Roscioli, Ali Lopez-Sohaili, Quincy Dunn-Baker (last seen in "Hearts Beat Loud"), Vladimir Caamano, Taylor Sele, Karen Murphy, Eden MarryShow (last seen in "The Normal Heart"), Maureen Mountcastle, Maccie Margaret Chbosky, Dana de Celis, Tina Chilip, Erin Wilhelmi (last seen in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"), Richard Piti, Craig Castaldo/Radio Man (last seen in "Killers of the Flower Moon"), Robert John Gallagher, Marcos A. Gonzalez (last seen in "Good Time"), Joe Scaravella
RATING: 7 out of 10 limoncello shots
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