Consider “Nonnas†comfort food.
It doesn’t really get the juices flowing but it is a sweet little film that lets four older actresses do more than hit on pool boys.
Based on a true story, it follows a working-class New Yorker (Vince Vaughn) who decides to open a restaurant with the money his mother left him. Because he loved the Sunday meals she and her mother made, he figures others will, too.
He pulls the concept together, gets help refurbishing the restaurant, then hits up his mother’s friends to work there. They’re hesitant, but they love to cook. Sooner than you can get a pot of water boiling, he’s dealing with their egos and limitations. Lorraine Bracco plays this too old (for someone who says she’s 73) but Brenda Vaccaro and Talia Shire find the sweet spot. They’re joined by Susan Sarandon (who looks like she might have wanted to be in one of those hot-to-trot films) and the restaurant is ready to start serving.
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The kitchen heats up when Susan Sarandon, Brenda Vaccaro, Lorraine Bracco and Talia Shire check in. They're in "Nonnas."Â
The rub? Competitors have scared folks away from the place. No one comes. Not even the critics. Just when he thinks it’s time to throw in the towel, patrons arrive and (spoiler alert) Maria’s is a hit.
Director Stephen Chbosky never lets this get above a simmer. Sure, there are problems, but they don’t get in the way of a feel-good movie.
Vaughn is the straight man, letting the women pick up the laughs.
Vaccaro is the film’s MVP, able to toss off a funny line without straining herself.
From left, Lorraine Bracco as Roberta, Talia Shire as Teresa, Brenda Vaccaro as Antonella and Vince Vaughn as Joe Scaravella in "Nonnas."Â Â
The film has plenty of recognizable faces in supporting roles (was this time to re-up the insurance in the Screen Actors Guild?), and a “Green Book†quality that never seems too threatening.
The food, seen in passing, looks good but Chbosky never goes so deep into the dishes you want to smell them.
The few traumas Vaughn considers are relatively minor and, often, resolve themselves with a phone call. He gets a relationship of sorts with an old school friend (Linda Cardellini) but it, too, never really heats up.
The joy comes when Chbosky shows scenes from the real restaurant — the one that inspired “Nonnas.†It looks as inviting as a Thanksgiving meal you don’t have to cook.
If there’s value in a film like this, it’s showing older actresses in a more realistic light. Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Sally Field and Lily Tomlin may work a lot. But the films they’re stuck in don’t begin to tap the talent they represent.
“Nonnas,†at least, leaves the desperation at home and lets its stars have realistic conversations.
“Nonnas†airs on Netflix.
