Uncle Nino

2003
6.5| 1h44m| PG| en
Details

A distant, slightly dysfunctional family is brought closer together when the father's long-estranged Uncle Nino comes from Italy to Chicago for a surprise visit.

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Also starring Pierrino Mascarino

Reviews

SunnyHello Nice effects though.
FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
giask8 I believe that this movie will help revamp the film industry into a more positive world. I absolutely loved this movie! It is definitely for the whole family. I encourage all to see this movie if it is playing anywhere. It is definitely worth your while and will be enjoyed thoroughly by all. What is special about this movie is that there is no foul language, no violence, no inappropriate scenes, yet the entire family loves it. From the newborn to the teenager, your kids will most certainly enjoy seeing this film. It is very funny and entertaining! If you are an Italian, you will cherish this film even more! Although the majority of the film is in English, there are a few Italian lines here and there! So if you have the chance to see this movie, please, please, please do! Also, this is to the owner of this film or anyone associated with this film: if you could please please get this movie into theaters or at least on DVD many of us would love it! It received rave reviews from all whom saw it!There was a big ovation at the end from all who attended! No doubt there will be many people buying this if it does come out!
Rich Dunbeck Here's a movie that couldn't find major distribution, and for a good reason. "Uncle Nino" is so bland, unoriginal, cliché, stereotypical, and in-your-face wholesome that I almost forgot I was watching a movie and not a live action episode of Davie and Goliath with an Itailan kook in place of the dog, and Joe Mantegna in place of the lobotomized dweeb kid."Uncle Nino" follows the conventional 'family discord' plot: Mom and Dad (Mantegna and Anne Archer) are too busy with work to raise the kids. The kids, therefore, are rebels. Fourteen-year-old Bobby (Trevor Morgan) TP's houses with the members of his band, called "Carp" for one of the most ridiculous reasons I've ever heard, and together they commandeer Bobby's garage. This is, of course, to the chagrin of Bobby's parents. Twelve-year-old sis Gina (Gina Mantegna. Ah...nepotism) wants a puppy, stays at her friend's house all day, and watches Animal Planet all night. Yes, in the world of "Uncle Nino", watching Animal Planet is a sign of rebellion.Then the kooky Italian Uncle shows up, and fixes everything. How? Apparently foreigners are magic. Or at least they have a never-ending supply of money to provide pets, garden make-overs, and anything else necessary to an ailing family. Nino joins Bobby's band and makes them sound good; he gives Gina a puppy and warms mom's heart; he plants a garden and reminds dad of his childhood. If you think I have in any way ruined this film for you, then you need to get help. If you can't see the ending coming from the first frame of the film, you are severely, cripplingly retarded."Uncle Nino" makes sure to throw in some lessons about fate, mortality, and every other subject that it's writers obviously don't know jack about. They tried to give us a dramatic moment when Nino visits his brother's grave for the very first time. Nino was in prison when his brother died, and after that he waited thirty-six more years to come. Why? Let's turn to resident fatalist Joe Mantegna for an answer: "Maybe you weren't supposed to come to America when he died, so that you could come now. I know that without you here, I'd never appreciate the best things in my life." Oh shut up.The real answer why he didn't come is this: he messed up. And then, when he was free from prison, he just didn't care enough to come, and forgot. Then, thirty-six years later, he remembered that he didn't want to rot in hades for eternity, and he came to try and get a good word in with his apparently saintly deceased brother.Okay, so maybe I'm being too cynical, but the movie does little to make me think otherwise. I wanted to like "Uncle Nino", really I did. The uncle character is funny at times, and probably deserved to be in a better film than this. His earliest scenes, wandering through an airport for the first time in his life, are sweet and comical. But as soon as the American family shows up, the sweetness hits an overload level and the comedy all but dies.I was rather amazed to find that this isn't director Robert Shallcross' first film. "Uncle Nino" is so sloppily handled and so full of cliché soft-focus shots that I thought I was hopped up on morphine and drifting in and out of consciousness. I had to blink my eyes a few times before I realized that it was supposed to look so fuzzy in those scenes. Good grief.I don't think I need to get into how atrocious the screenplay is. I've already said enough there.The acting is less than TV quality, except for Pierrino Mascarino, who makes Nino as charming as he possibly can. Alas, he can't save this film. Joe Mantegna, in my mind, lives in the shadow of his Fat Tony character from the Simpsons. I can't help but see Tony on screen in place of Mantegna. Maybe if Joe did something to, you know, surpass Fat Tony he might have something. The rest of the cast is just...I'm not even going to dignify it with a comment."Uncle Nino" is a TV movie of the week blown up onto a big screen. Try as it might to be special or different, it is neither. It's just like any other sitcom family movie. I'll give it credit, though, it gave me a few smiles in Nino's early scenes. If only it had been like that all the way through. If only Nino had gotten a better script. If only, if only...
Ed112927 I went to see "Uncle Neno" this morning with my 17 year old daughter and we both were very impressed with the movie. "Uncle Neno" is a "little Film" as opposed to some big budget blockbuster. "Uncle Neno", I believe, will be a successful niche movie. The film is suitable for any audience, no sex, violence, or bad language. If your trying to find a film to take the family to, one they will enjoy and come out with a serious message, "Uncle Neno" is the one. It tells it's story in a straight forward entertaining fashion. "Uncle Neno" is a warm, charming and thought provoking movie. The characters are well written, believable and well acted. It show us how we are in the U.S. and how we are often distracted from what is really important in our lives, our Family. I only wish that every family, including my own, could have an "Uncle Neno" to show us where we have gone astray. I compliment "Kick the Can" for this picture.
kramer7-1 Life seems to be flying by and no one seems to care about anyone but themselves and their own selfish gain. Doesn't that sound like a lot of the world today? Sorry to say I think it does. We all need to slow down, re-evaluate our priorities and not put ourselves first. I think this movie really makes you stop and think about your own life and what you have placed as number one in your life. The world needs to see this movie with this message and I hope it goes nation wide with a great response. Little things can make a difference in the life those around you.Great movie.

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