¿Y Dónde Está El Padrino?

A worthwhile spoof of gangster movies (especially the godfather and casino) with several really funny scenes that will keep you laughing. I enjoyed this when I saw it and would recommend it. Good script and good performances.

** 1/2 out of ****

Here's a very funny spoof on The Godfather story. This is a Leslie Nielsen-type silly parody, except the late Lloyd Bridges played the lead role instead Nielson.

Actually Jay Mohr was more of the lead actor in here, narrating the film and taking Al Pacino's Godfather role while Christina Applegate took Diane Keaton's character.

There are a number of laugh-out-loud lines in this movie and a number of overdone slapstick scenes. As with any comedy in which the material comes at you at a rapid pace (see the Marx Brothers films from 70 years ago to see some of the origins of comedic mayhem), you get a lot funny and not-so-funny. They come at you so fast you can hardly keep up. I found that there were a lot of funny lines written on background buildings, street signs, etc. on this film. You almost have to freeze-frame some scenes to "read" all the jokes, much less hear them.

This movie did do something that Hollywood films rarely have done: poke fun at a Democrat. Usually, the cheap shots are reserved for Republcians (Nixon, Gingrich, Reagan, Bush, etc) but here we have the famous "But I never had sex with that woman!" line delivered in a obvious reference. Well, good for them. About time the Liberals were recipients of a cheap shot or two. It only happens about once every 25 years in films. So, I give this film points for being "fair and balanced."

Also points should be awarded for having several actors from the actual Godfather films make appearances here, too. The film was dedicated "in loving memory" to Bridges, so I assume this was his last movie. Well, he certainly went out with a laugh.

It certainly took a long time to get to see the first spoof on the ever-so -serious mafia flicks! However, it was worth the wait - Jim Abrahams has certainly not lost his touch. Although there is an abundant number of really bad jokes in the picture, and many times you've heard them before (in Airplane!, Naked Gun etc.), one cannot help but like it. For one thing, Mafia! looks fabulous (especially the Sicilian scenes). At times sparks really fly in terms of funny dialogue and character interaction - I especially enjoyed Christina Applegate's 'presidential' performance. Although Lloyd Bridges will be fondly remembered (and missed), I would have preferred to see Leslie Nielsen in Don Cortino's role.

Jim Abrahams, the director of "Jane Austen's Mafia", is a man that knows a thing, or two, about what to give the public as he has already shown in his acerbic satires. This one, came without any warning the other night and frankly, either we were in a giddy mood, or we were ready to laugh looking at this spoof on the different Godfathers films, as well as others, most notably, Goodfellas and Casino. Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese might have laughed at seeing some of the material they directed seen in a different light.

The casting was excellent. LLoyd Bridges, for whom the film is dedicated, gives a great performance as the older Vincenzo Cortino. Jay Mohr as the younger Cortino is good. The same can be said for the rest of the cast that do some amazing funny turns.

The only suggestion is to stay tuned to the credits because of the funny lines in between the names of the people involved in this film. If you're in a mood for fun and want to see some light fare, this is the film for you.

Young Vincenzo Cortino, son of a Sicilian postman, delivers a package for his father and accidentally sees something he should not see. In a donkey's, well, he is smuggled out of town, where he tries to reach a ship headed for America. There, Vincenzo works his way up to the top of the Mafia. One day, his youngest son makes a mistake and has to leave town. A little later, he ends up as a casino boss in Las Vegas. But the heads of the other families want old Don Cortino out of the way. So, they shoot him 47 times and send a *very* attractive woman to distract his son from his casino work. Will he fall for her or will he return to Diane, who, by the way, had run for President successfully in the meantime? Not every joke works, but many of them are indeed quite hilarious. If you liked Jim Abrahams previous films, i.e. Hot Shots 1&2, you'll probably like this film. It spoofs everything from "The Godfather", to "Jurassic park 2", to "Forrest gump". It was also entertaining watching many people who were IN the Godfather spoofing they're own characters! My rating for "Mafia!"--8/10.

ABOUT THE DVD: Touchstone has released a reasonable DVD for the film. The image is presented in 1.85:1 and generally isn't a bad picture but has a surprisingly high amount of grain and dirt (This is especially obvious during darker sequences) but the picture is sharp,colors are good, and blacks are solid. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound is as fine as I could have hoped for. Audio is crystal clear and there's plenty of surround sound effects to keep your rear speakers occupied. For extras we are given a tiny production featurette, which consist of cast interviews, film clips, and some behind-the-scene footage. This featurette runs a little less than 2 minutes. The disk is adequately closed-captioned with substantial paraphrasing. My rating for the DVD: 7.5/10.