Welcome to Mama's

I adore Lorraine Bracco but not in this environment. The back and forth between present and past was fine, but the main leads had zero chemistry. Their personalities clashed, and the story was stale. This one fell flat for me, definitely not a rewatch.

When ambition and tradition don't mix, the flavor of Mama's Ristorante is lost. But with the help of Mama's recipe for love, a partnership is born, and her legacy lives on.

I really enjoyed the story line. This film truly had great potential!

But, I felt that Melanie Scrofano (Amy) held back the quality of this film.

It had great potential, but she did not appear to be "into" this film, which is too bad, since it had potential to get a 9 rating from me. Her acting did not appear to be genuine. She seemed to simply make statements. Her body language including facial expressions did not match her statements.

The transitioning back and forth from the origins of Mama's to now, could have been done so that it was easier to follow ... perhaps not as many transitions with longer sessions so that the original mama and papa could be clearly seen and understood. Eg: When did papa disappear? What happened to him? When did Amy leave Mama's? Etc.

Unlike what some reviewers had stated about Daniel di Tomasso (Frank Rossi), I felt that he played his part well. More details about the transition and blending of both he and Melanie (Amy) should have been included to better display how they bettered the new Mama's and how their romantic relationship grew.

6.4 stars.

This film fails to capture the ambience of a rustic Italian restaurant, is slow moving and not engaging. The chemistry between Amy and Frank is somewhat non-existent, whereas their friendship is more believable and practical. I feel she is straining her performance and not interested in playing the part. His personality seems lifeless and dull. It's as if they both delved too deep into their characters and forgot to import some enthusiasm.

The back story of Mama and Papa was interesting although not realistic because their personalities do not transfer from past to present. Mama's past self being a robust, petit, cute and gentle person; changed into a frustrated, sour, voluptuous, matriarch with no spark. Papa simply disappears into the background. Their accents don't jive from past to present, hers being non-existent after a while. There is no convincing the audience of such drastic shifts in character and how things are.

The Mama and Papa history doesn't mesh, the leads don't fit together, there is nothing to root for, not even the hope of a triumphant romantic ending either past or present.

Not as good as hallmark's usual offerings it had all the elements, just lacked chemistry with the viewer. The lead actress just felt awkward and it took a while to get the hang of the flashbacks. No experienced manager would have an argument with a member of the staff in front of guests. Background sound/music might've been authentic to a kitchen but was a bit loud for dialogue. Fine for one watch but that's enough.