Nonnas

Image credit: Wikipedia

I like the sweet, wholesome, and nondescript heartwarming foodie comedy a la Julie & Julia, Ratatouille, or Delicious in Dungeon. I put as much love into food preparation and consumption as I do movie consumption (i.e. I love to cook and am fascinated by the power that food holds). So it’s a real punch in the gut when I spot a movie that promises to be all sweet and wholesome and about the healing power of food, that then does not deliver. This would be the (unbelievably) Emmy-nominated, Nonnas.

After his mother passes away, Joe Scaravella (Vince Vaughn) finds himself struggling to move on and cooking his mother and Nonna’s recipes as a means of coping. At the suggestion of his childhood friends, he takes the money left to him and decides to open a restaurant with real Italian grandmothers as the chefs. What could go wrong?

This film is based on a true story, this restaurant is a real place in Staten Island that has blossomed into a multicultural family kitchen with grandmothers from all backgrounds cooking family recipes. The real Joe Scaravella even makes a cameo in the film. It’s a sweet and inspiring story that I am now tempted to investigate to see just how much of it was kept and what parts were written in to flesh out the movie.

Ironically, despite the immediate pull of the wholesome food-related true story, Nonnas suffered from a serious lack of seasoning. The story itself is the flavour that carries the film, but the clumsy script, forced character development, and wholly uninteresting protagonist really bring the whole thing down. Like a cream of mushroom soup that’s more ‘water of mushroom’.

Vince Vaughn, what happened to you? In every Vaughn movie I’ve seen he is charismatic, endearing, and goes a mile a minute: with the exception of Zoolander in which he has no lines. Hell, even in the remake of Psycho he was more engaging. In Nonnas his performances in the most bland and wooden thing I have ever seen, eating a pinecone would be more entertaining and provide the same nutritional value. Maybe this is the first example of an AI lead?

The real stars of the show are the supporting cast of chefs: Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro, and Susan Sarandon. The chemistry between the Nonnas is heartwarming and instantly recognisable, the real crime of this film is not doing more with their characters. I feel like so much flavour could have been added if we got to hear stories about their recipes. Instead, we get one good scene in which they all bond and it’s so ham-fistedly written that you spend the rest of the film massaging your jaw from clenching too hard.

Image credit: Eater

As a main dish, Nonnas was lacking. Carried by a simple and novel plot, there was nothing added to enrich, compliment, or deepen the flavour of the film. A bland protagonist that does not inspire us to be on his side, a group of supporting characters who don’t get the showcase they deserve, and a script that feels like it was left on the stove to bubble away without being stirred once. Not a dish I would order again.

Director: Stephen Chbosky, 2025

Cast: Vince Vaughn, Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro, Jimmy Smagula, Adam Ferrara, Kate Eastman, Karen Giordano, Joe Manganiello, Linda Cardellini & Susan Sarandon