The story: A working man named Antonio takes his family on vacation to his hometown of Sicily. While in Sicily, Antonio is meant to deliver a gift to a Mafia man named Don. What was supposed to be a simple gift giving turns into much more when Don asks Antonio to do a job for him. What is the assignment? Is there more to Antonio’s past in Sicily then we thought? Tune in and find out.

“Mafioso” is part comedy/part drama. The movie starts out playful enough with the character of Antonio acting overly happy as he reunites with his Italian family. However, the movie takes a turn in the second half when we begin to learn more about Antonio’s past. For me, this turn of events is problematic as it makes both the character Antonio and the actor who plays him (Alberto Sordi) wildly inconsistent. For example, throughout the course of the movie, the character of Antonio goes from devoted worker to happy father to shady character keeping secrets from his family to a scared man to a criminal. As if that weren’t odd enough, Sordi himself overacts in virtually every scene he is in. His cheery persona at the beginning is completely phony and his frightened persona at the end is too transparent. He’s quite simply all over the place with his acting. Of course, the screenwriters are partially to blame for this as well. I respect the fact that the screenwriters were trying to create a large and ambitious story arc for the main character, but it’s just not entirely believable.

The two aspects of “Mafioso” that did work for me were the lush cinematography and the sub-plot involving Antonio’s wife Marta. Her comical story of trying to adjust to Antonio’s family, life in Sicily, and traditions really brought the film to life.