Trattoria

TRATTORIA is an enjoyable father/son story set in the culinary world of San Francisco. Though the theme is well worn, writer/director Jason Wolos, does a nice job setting the tale in the highly competitive San Francisco food scene. Inter-spliced footage of local celebrity chefs (Traci Des Jardins, Elizabeth Falkner, etc.) talking directly into the camera effectively give testimony to the all consuming nature of the restaurant business and credence to the distance and animosity between the father, Chef Sal Sartini (Tony Denison) and his estranged son, Vince (John Patrick Amedori). Equally validated is Chef Sal's reluctance to teach Vince his trade as to succeed, one must dedicate their life to the kitchen and little else. Where cooking has been the only vehicle for Chef Sal to express his emotions, the ending feels overly emotional and effusive. However, TRATTORIA will surely please fans of competitive cooking shows (TOP CHEF, CHOPPED, etc.), and is ultimately like a home cooked meal - warm and inviting.

This is a wonderful and charming indie film with a strong cast led by Tony Denison and John Patrick Amedori. When I saw this movie with a friend, the first comment he made as we were leaving the theater was, "that was delightful!" I absolutely agree and would also add that it's smart, funny and refreshing because it takes risks. The movie is beautifully shot and looks like a big-budget Hollywood film. But I doubt Hollywood would make this film, because it doesn't follow the run-of-the-mill Hollywood formula. The story is two fold; it's about a complicated father-son relationship, while it also delves into the "second wife" and her role/place within this relationship. I haven't really seen that issue explored before in a movie. All of this takes place with the backdrop of the hard realities of the San Francisco restaurant business, with real-life chefs, like Elizabeth Falkner, giving fascinating insights into life as a "restaurateur." In the end, I would say I loved this film and it made me hungry … go see it!

This is a charming film that really captures the drama and reality of running a restaurant. It also shows how hard it is to be in any business with close family members: a father, a son, and a second wife... all with their own opinions of how things should be done. The family tensions (sometimes funny and sometimes serious) mixed with the tensions of running a restaurant, is a great recipe for a layered film that keeps your interest peaked all the way through. The great thing about the film is no one family member is always right or always wrong, so we, as the audience, are constantly changing sides. This film probably won't make you want to run out and open a restaurant, but it will give you hope that there still are some movies being made with great characters, a good story, and heart.

There are no surprises in this, everything pretty much goes by the boilerplate structure of a film of this nature. Still, it was pleasant and a couple of the actors stood out, the two young protagonist in particular.

Imagine how many little films like this you could make with the budget from some piece of garbage like Dead-drool 2. Forget that, just the marketing budget for that ultra-violent sociopathic abomination would be enough to keep an army of small film makers in business for a few years.

Excellent cast, story and direction. Totally relatable coming from a culinary background. The interactions with the staff in the movie were spot on as was the personal relationships.