Word: nino
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...Uncle Nino ends up being quite at home with Robert and his family, themselves archetypal characters. Robert is an overworked executive who has lost touch with his family. His wife, Marie (Anne Archer), works at a department store where she talks to friends about her loneliness and wishes that Robert would bring home the salami once in a while. Fourteen-year-old Bobby (Trevor Morgan) divides his time between neighborhood vandalism and playing with his buddies in a garage band, while his little sister Nina (Gina Mantegna) constantly whines about wanting a puppy—Uncle Nino, making an effort...
Dismayed by what he didn’t expect to find in America, Uncle Nino works hard to connect with the family. He tries appealing to Gina’s interest in animals, and using his violin skills, Uncle Nino reaches out to Bobby with music, eventually joining his band. Although he makes some progress, his well-meaning actions end up upsetting the family members after he interferes with one of Robert’s business meetings and destroys the lawn...
After Robert shares some very stern words with him, Uncle Nino decides that he should leave, and he discloses the true reason behind his trip. Now by this point you’ll probably have stopped caring, but Uncle Nino’s disclosure does start to introduce some much needed realism to the maddeningly saccharine world of the movie. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t take this further and instead opts for the route of quaint, sitcom resolution...
Given the weaknesses of the movie’s writing, it’s hard to hold anything against the actors. Hearing Uncle Nino wildly exclaim “you are a beautiful flag” while looking at the stars and stripes in the airport, one is simply left wondering if there are people who actually behave like this...
...picture certainly has a clear sense of where it would like to end. The audience is supposed to fall for the lovable Uncle Nino and to feel for Robert’s disconnected family. Its problem is that its vision is muddled at best, such that it can’t see the means to get at that end by traveling an intelligent course. And yes, a family-friendly film can be intelligent: The Incredibles aptly demonstrated this possibility last year...