Mafia Mamma was in so much danger of not working. Its story is borderline nonsense, its acting is as grounded as the International Space Station, and its tone veers from full-on farce to alarming violence to surprisingly erotically charged. And in the end, all of that is why it works so well. This Prime Video comedy movie knows exactly what it’s doing, and what it’s doing is having a big party in Italy with fun jokes, and everyone’s invited – but only if you promise not to take it seriously.
Toni Collette plays Kristin, a classic downtrodden movie wife, who returns from the job where her contributions are ignored to find that her husband is cheating on her, and all just as her son is leaving home. Fortunately(ish), her Italian grandfather has died, and she needs to go to Italy to settle the estate, and that estate turns out to be A Full-on Mob Family.
Do hijinks ensue? You betcha. Do her two bodyguard heavies turn out to be sensitive souls for comedic purposes? Of course. Does she accidentally become good at Mafia-ing? Inevitably. Does that cause her to fall in danger? Naturally. Does she have conversations with Monica Bellucci that are extremely sexually charged for no particular reason? Totally. Is there a part where a man’s eyeball is graphically removed in a scene that is as comical as it is alarming? Unbelievably.
Mafia Mamma is funny because it genuinely means to be, not in the ‘so bad it’s funny’ way – it’s just willing to go the silliest lengths to get there. This is a big broad farce set in beautiful Italian towns and countryside. Go in with the right attitude and it’s a blast, even if it’s not going to become a modern classic on the list of the best Prime Video movies.