Just in time for Mother’s Day, Netflix serves up the perfect cinematic recipe for moms (and their devoted sons) with Nonnas. The title is Italian for grandmothers, and this warm, old-fashioned feel-good comedy in the Moonlight tradition and based on true events is tailor-made for its Mother’s Day weekend debut. Writer Liz Maccie provides some irresistible material for her real-life husband, director Stephen Chbosky, that is guaranteed to touch the heart and make no apologies for doing so. It also will make you very hungry.
A well-cast Vince Vaughn, miles away from his Swingers and Wedding Crashers past, plays the real-life dreamer Jody Scaravella (who goes by Joe or Joey), born and living in Brooklyn, who works for the MTA and always has been a loving son to his mom. When she dies, he is lost — until coming up with a plan to honor her and her mother, who is of course his nonna, one he remembers fondly from the smell of whatever these two were cooking up in the kitchen. He comes upon the idea to open his own Italian restaurant, where actual nonnas would be the chefs.
Finding a long-closed Italian restaurant in Staten Island, he takes the money left to him by his mother to put a down payment on the dilapidated old place, fix it up and live his dream. But it is not as easy as it sounds because to get this place in working condition will require a bit of a miracle. He begs his lifelong best friend Bruno (a perfect Joe Manganiello), a contractor, to help out and take on the job. Bruno thinks it is a lost cause, one that never will pass city regulations, but he finally caves and agrees to the restoration.
And then there is the other big task to actually find a quartet of grandmothers with the chops, and the will, to upend their lives and cook the food. With the help of friend Olivia (Linda Cardellini), he finds the very reluctant Antonella (Brenda Vaccaro), who spends her days still talking to, and mourning, her late husband. Joe also convinces his mom’s grieving best friend Roberta (Lorraine Bracco) to leave the rest home where she is living and trek out to Staten Island to hit the kitchen. Add to the mix a rather daffy ex-nun, Teresa (Talia Shire) and hair salon owner Gia (Susan Sarandon), and we have our kitchen staff.
The bulk of the film is set around Joe’s determination to create this ode to his mother, which he names Enoteca Maria, and all the complications involved in making this dream come true. This being a true tale, it is no secret that after a lot of stops and starts it actually does become a reality and, as we see in actual footage at the end credits, still is thriving after 15 years. This film no doubt will make it impossible to get a reservation as Chbosky’s cameras adoringly shoot the pasta like it is the Mona Lisa. Yum.
The fun of the film is watching Joe navigate every pitfall along the way, as well as being true to his vision of creating a loving monument to family, and his mom and nonna, just keeping alive the image of their magic ability to make unforgettable meals. Vaughn is sincere, always wearing sentiment on his sleeve, and the perfect embodiment of a man so driven to a single dream. He is helped by this delicious cast of old pros (a saucy Vaccaro, a wonderful Bracco, an amusing Shire and a sexy Sarandon), giving each of them distinctive personalities to play. Also standing out is Drea de Matteo as Manganiello’s wife and, in a brief turn, Campbell Scott as the TV cooking show maven who gives Joe the break of a lifetime.
Sure, this is the kind of movie that proves “they don’t make ’em like they used to.” But in this case, they do, and if you are looking for the kind of film that will make your own mom and nonna happy, this one, sentimental to the end, will do the trick. Nothing wrong with that. Producers are Gigi Pritzker, Rachel Shane, and Jack Turner. Title: Nonnas Distributor: Netflix Release date: May 9, 2025 Director: Stephen Chbosky Screenwriter: Liz Maccie Cast: Vince Vaughn, Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, Brenda Vaccaro, Joe Manganiello, Drea de Matteo, Campbell Scott, Michael Rispoli, Linda Cardellini, Susan Sarandon Rating: PG Running Time: 1 hr 51 mins.
After spending a few years focused on behind-the-camera work, Vince Vaughn is back on the acting rise, first with Apple TV+'s successful crime comedy Bad Monkey, and now with Netflix's Nonnas. While the former proved to be something of a change of pace for the star, the latter feels like a return to some of the lighter comedies he previously became known for. Unfortunately, unlike Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story or even The Internship, the movie takes a little too long to really make an impression.
Inspired by a true story, Vaughn leads the Nonnas cast as Joe Scaravella, a Manhattan MTA worker in the midst of grieving his mother's death and wondering what to do next with his life. Having always connected with his mom and grandmother (in Italian, "nonna") through their cooking, Joe becomes inspired to open a restaurant in Staten Island with the money from his mother's life insurance, in which the only chefs are other Italian grandmothers, to create a family feeling for his customers.
Between his chefs' bickering, financial hurdles, and local pushback, Joe will have to fight to make his dream a reality. The genre formula makes the proceedings feel a bit slow. With a story as unique and heartfelt as Scaravella's, I would've hoped that it translated into Nonnas' plot, and yet for the majority of the movie, almost every step of the way felt too predictable.
That’s not necessarily to say that Liz Maccie's script is a bad one, as there are a few surprises to come from the film, particularly near its ending. But the real problem lies in the fact that, because of its familiarity, Nonnas feels like it's overstaying its welcome by the movie's halfway point, an unfortunate sign when a movie is nearly two hours long, as we're left waiting for the story to hit the next genre beat.
Where Nonnas overall story structure may underwhelm, the one area that shines the brightest is the star-studded roster director Stephen Chbosky has assembled for the film, particularly the titular chefs. Susan Sarandon, Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire, and Brenda Vaccaro are absolute treats with very different character personalities. Sarandon yet again nails the fully confident member of the group, while Bracco and Vaccaro are quite funny to watch as the very proud Italian-raised grandmothers, who argue about which region is better.
Despite its predictable elements, Nonnas delivers a heartwarming tribute to the power of family and the love that can be found in food, making it a delightful watch for those looking to celebrate Mother’s Day with a story that resonates with both nostalgia and warmth.
