This was the second film I saw today that was based after a stand up comedy routine. The first one was Bert Kreischer in The Machine and this one was Sebastian Maniscalco, co-starring with Robert DeNiro in About My Father.

Sebastian was invited by his girlfriend Ellie (Leslie Bibb) to join her and her family over the Fourth of July weekend which was going to give Sebastian an opportunity that he had been looking for. The perfect place to propose. One problem, Sebastian felt guilt about leaving his father, Salvo (Robert DeNiro) alone on the holiday. Despite his better judgment, Ellie convinced Sebastian to invite Salvo to come along to her parent’s summer home. Hijinks ensue.

Honestly, though this was also not the worst movie I have ever seen, it was not very good. First off, it was not especially funny, which is always a drawback for a comedy. The biggest laugh moments had already been shown in the trailer so they lost any impact that they may have had.

Secondly, there was so much exposition in this movie, trying to set up Ellie’s family members that it really dragged down the film. None of these weird characters were near as creative as the film thought they were.

Next, this film felt very much like Meet the Family, even starring Robert DeNiro, though in a different manner. The story lacked any really creative twists or original thoughts.

In the trailers, they showed the whole peacock debacle, but it played as if it was Salvo’s error. However, the film played it much more nasty and cruel, making me change opinions on Salvo and his motivation.

Sebastian Maniscalco was also not a strong actor, which only stood out even more with the talented cast around him. The cast not only included Robert DeNiro, but also Kim Cattrall, David Rasche, and Anders Holm. Maniscalco did a lot of squinting and not much more.

The biggest problem is the film was just not very funny. I laughed maybe once at a scene and the rest of the time I just sat and watched.

About My Father lacked any really funny moments that we hadn’t already seen in the trailers and the story was just what you would expect. I’ve seen the same ideas in much better films. Not offensively bad, just bad.

2.2 stars