75
Entertainment Weekly / Scott Brown:
This is feel-good filmmaking, to be sure, but the culture clash here is more than a meaningless vehicle for fizzy wish fulfillment. The not-unpleasant result is hearty Italian fare with the half-life of Chinese takeout.
70
Los Angeles Times / Kevin Thomas:
Intent on offering viewers a good time yet manages to sneak in considerable substance in a disarming, even old-fashioned manner.
63
Boston Globe / Janice Page:
No sophisticated dance, but it moves about with an open heart. And hey, it's at least as funny as that Greek thing.
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) / Rick Groen:
Patterns itself after the Greek model -- that is, more ethnic humour with a contemporary twist.
63
New York Daily News / Elizabeth Weitzman:
So desperately eager to please: Gaudreault doesn't offer much in the way of wit or originality, but he's determined to win us over with sheer enthusiasm.
60
TV Guide / Ken Fox:
Beneath the heavy accents, wild gesticulating, slaps to the head and garish flocked wallpaper, there's an awful lot of heart.
60
Variety / David Rooney:
The broad comedy is somewhat strained and obvious, and the hyper-real atmosphere encourages the cast to slice the prosciutto a little thickly. But the film's sweet-natured ingenuousness proves reasonably contagious.
50
Baltimore Sun / Chris Kaltenbach:
Unless you think "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was the height of genius, there's little reason to sit though another version.
50
Chicago Reader / J.R. Jones:
The "Big Fat Wedding" formula dictates a certain amount of ugly-duckling fantasy along with the ethnic scenery chewing.
50
Chicago Sun-Times / Roger Ebert:
There are laughs in the movie, and a lot of good feeling, but it seems more interested in its Italian stereotypes than its gay insights.
50
Chicago Tribune / Michael Wilmington:
Likable but relentlessly trivial.
50
New York Post / Lou Lumenick:
You don't have to be gay or Italian or live in Canada to enjoy Mambo Italiano, but a tolerance for ethnic mugging helps.
50
San Francisco Chronicle / Carla Meyer:
A coming-out comedy that mines every cliche of cloistered Italian culture. But like "Greek Wedding," Mambo has enough funny moments to save it.
42
Seattle Post-Intelligencer / Sean Axmaker:
More than painful to behold, it's simply insincere in a film determined to undermine gay stereotypes.
40
The Hollywood Reporter / Frank Scheck:
Ethnic and sexual stereotypes receive equally clumsy treatment in this Canadian comedy.
40
LA Weekly / Chuck Wilson:
More dispiriting than the caricatured Italian families is the sense that, by picture's end, the filmmakers have neutered Angelo, so that his sexual energy is dulled, made non-threatening -- the perfect son after all.
40
New York Times / Dave Kehr:
As Angelo, Mr. Kirby has a boyish charm, which is probably the best that can be said for this film as well.
40
The Onion (A.V. Club) / Scott Tobias:
If Gaudreault's 90-minute pilot ever makes it to television, French-Canadians can look forward to their own Italian version of A.K.A. Pablo.
40
Village Voice / Ed Halter:
Old annoying ethnic family stereotypes meet new annoying gay-relationship stereotypes in this candidate for "Kiss Me Guido's" heretofore uncontested niche.
33
Portland Oregonian / Kim Morgan:
The script is inane, and though Ferri has some funny moments, the acting is annoying or hopelessly bland.
30
Dallas Observer / David Ehrenstein :
If any further indication were needed of the fact that gay has gone mainstream, this flaccid farce provides definitive proof, for it's as forced and unfunny as subpar Sandra Dee.
25
Premiere / Addison MacDonald:
Perfectly harmless but by no means cinematic. It is unapologetically vying for the same moviegoers that "Greek Wedding" connected with last summer.
20
Austin Chronicle / Marjorie Baumgarten:
Disappointing flop that is best left off your dance card.
20
Washington Post / Desson Howe:
Lacks that outrageous effrontery that might have socked it to its intended audience
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Mambo Italiano
Comedy
MPAA RATING
R for language and sexual situations