Mafiosa

There are so many bad programs out there right now that I hesitate to turn the channel on my television. Especially bad are the many reality shows that clog the airwaves every night. It was refreshing to watch something a little different. I saw this in Boston and the quality of the film was pretty bad but I learned later that it was due to the screening equipment rather than the film itself.

I'm not a critic so I watch a program strictly for the entertainment value. Nothing else. If there is is a car that wasn't supposed to be in the shot or a line that didn't work, who cares? I certainly don't. I thought this film was funny and I laughed for much of the show so that's about all I can expect from a comedy.

So, if I were a critic, I would give it a "Thumbs Up". Definitely worth watching.

This was a presentation pilot which had its world premiere at the Boston International Film Festival. The acting was excellent and the film was very funny. The audience laughed throughout the entire screening. Afterwards, the producer was asked to come down and discuss the film with the audience. While it's true that the quality wasn't that good, he explained that it was shot in HD but it lost something in the transfer for the screening.

The premise was a deftly executed by two veteran actors Johnny (Roast Beef) Williams and Bobby Constanzo ("Goodfellas", "Analyze This" "Forget Paris", etc.). Brooke Lewis was excellent in her debut performance as the daughter of the mob boss (Costanzo) who wanted to take over as head of the family. Costanzo was hilarious as the delusional boss of this dysfunctional family.

All in all, it was a wonderful presentation for a low-budget pilot. I read in the trades where they are talking to several television channels about the pilot so I guess I'm not the only one who thinks this is a winning premise. I'm looking forward to seeing this series on the small screen in the near future.

I happened to see the pilot episode of this series and I loved it. I don't know why they didn't shoot any additional episodes but if they did, I couldn't find any of them on any of the channels.. The daughter of the "Don" is played by Brooke Lewis, who wants to run the mob because her father is getting a little fuzzy in the head and seems to be getting more and more forgetful.

However, her father's reply is, "No woman is going to be the the head of my mob, not as long as there is a hair on my head" -- which shouldn't have been too long considering the fact that he hardly has any follicles left growing between his ears. Very clever writing by Gordon who also produced the series. The daughter is determined to figure out a way to wriggle her way into running the mob so when they start interviewing prospects for a replacement, she comes up with a hilarious idea for a candidate as the mob's new leader. But this new mob boss isn't exactly what she/he seems to be.

This was a very clever story. While I thought this movie had some rough edges, I could see that this could turn out to be a real gem. The picture itself wasn't the best quality as it didn't seem to fit on the screen, and some of the acting left a little to be desired, but overall I could see myself watching it if it came on television. I know that this didn't cost a lot of money so I kept thinking about how good this could be if they really did have the money to get great actors and writers to write great episodes.

My favorite character was "Sal" who was in my opinion was a standout. The other characters were good but not exceptional. My second favorite was the woman who played, "Toni". I would love to see her again in another episode. This is my first comment so I don't know the technical terms to describe what I liked about it but basically, it was just a fun story to watch and I hope this gets picked up. I know it will be a success. Best of luck to the cast and crew for making a cute little film which could turn out to be a great little series.

That's probably why I like this one so much. It's funny but not over the top. You can tell that this wasn't a huge production but they still managed to get the point across anyway. You can't take this film too seriously but why would you? It's a comedy! So, if even though it has its flaws (what film doesn't?), I would still recommend this movie to anyone. I loved the characters, especially Bobby Costanza whom I've seen in many films, and also Johnny (Roast Beef) Williams who also has been in a zillion films.

So, if Mafia is you game, then Mafiosa is the name -- of the movie, that is.