ABOUT MY FATHER

 

About My Father stars two-time Oscar winner, Robert De Niro, who steals the film, and frankly, there would be no film without him.  The script written by Sebastian Maniscalco, is filled with forced laughter and a boring plot. De Niro plays an old-school, Italian father, whose son Sebastian longs to be engaged to the mega, wealthy daughter of a hotel magnet. The parents of the daughter are played by Kim Cattrall from Sex and the City and Bill Collins and while the acting is adequate, it is a writing that is pathetic. The audience seemed to like it, and it could be a hit, but for me, it was one bad joke after another.  It is held together by De Niro, who is simply marvelous.  So it’s worth watching just to see him. He plays the old-school, Italian father, who doesn’t want to let his son go and leave Chicago to live in Washington with his about-to-be fiancee played by Leslie Bibb, but it is really about a collision of values and that’s the best part of About My Father.  You see a poor, steadfast hairdresser, De Niro, who has real values juxtaposed against the hoity-toity family his son wants to marry into who may have a lot of money, but they have shallow beliefs.  So I see why De Niro agreed to star in the film because it was a good part for him, but it is not a good film. De Niro needs money. He needs alimony for his ex-wife. He has seven children including an infant with a new woman whom he must also support, therefore at 79 he's working his butt off.  This is obviously a film he did for money but it was a good part and he is good in it. It is worth seeing About My Father just to see him.  But if you're not a De Niro fan, I would forget it.