The Italian stereotypes in "Mambo Italiano" are so broad, so over-the-top, that they make the Greek stereotypes in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" look downright subtle.
Which might be more forgivable if this gay-themed cultural comedy were as funny and as sweet as that other film. Or if it were funny at all. There's little wit on display here and nothing appealing about this one.
Also, there's a mean-spiritedness to some of its material, including outright hostility toward at least a couple of its straight characters. Which is not the way to go about winning an audience outside of its obviously targeted one.
But that doesn't seem to be the point of this comedy, which instead seems set on making fun of Italians in the most heavy-handed manner possible. And doing most of that is the film's lead character, Angelo Barberini (Luke Kirby).
A frustrated, would-be soap opera writer, Angelo is also frustrated by his seeming inability to tell his tradition-minded, Italian-immigrant parents (Paul Sorvino and Ginette Reno) that he's gay.
Instead, he avoids the subject of his love life altogether — even when his lover, longtime friend Nino Paventi (Peter Miller), moves in with him.
But that's about to come to an end. Nino's mother (Mary Walsh) finds out what's really going on, and, convinced that it's just a phase, decides to set up her son and Angelo with some "nice Italian girls" and show them the error of their ways.
To say that Angelo's plight won't interest most audiences is a mild understatement. As he's written — and as he's played by Kirby — Angelo is an insufferable jerk who's concerned only with himself and who seems to have no regard for the feelings of others.
Of course, Kirby and the script (written by filmmaker Emile Gaudreault, adapting Steve Galluccio's stageplay) are not the only problems here. Several scenes linger past the obvious punchline, which makes what's actually a pretty short film feel interminable.
"Mambo Italiano" is rated R for occasional use of strong sexual profanity, crude sex talk and sexual humor, simulated sex, both gay and straight (mostly done for laughs), slapstick-styled violence and brief drug content (abuse of prescription drugs). Running time: 88 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com