Family is where all the best comedy comes from. Well, in my family, it’s more like drama … but in a new semi-autobiographical movie, you’ll get a little bit of both. Well, more laughs than tears. Deco’s Alex Miranda has more.
You may know comedian Sebastian Maniscalco from his stand-ups, and if you’ve seen any, you probably know about his dad. He’s a source of constant material, and now, in “About My Father,” we get the full father-son duo dynamic.
If you could cast any actor as your dad…
Sebastian Maniscalco (as Sebastian): “If we’re going to do this, Dad, you gotta dial it down on the ‘de, de, de.’
Robert De Niro (as Salvo Maniscalco): “What, what, what, what is this?”
…who would it be?
Alex Miranda: “I’m so sorry that you had to hire Robert De Niro to play your father.
Sebastian Maniscalco: “Touché.”
Alex Miranda: “That must have really sucked for you, right?”
Sebastian Maniscalco: “No, nobody wanted to do it, and we got him.”
We’re being sarcastic.
Sebastian Maniscalco: “It really hit [my dad] emotionally, I think because he’s sitting there watching De Niro play him in a movie, and I don’t think that really was in the cards when he moved here from Sicily when he was 15.”
But in “About My Father,” the new comedy loosely based on comedian Sebastian Maniscalco’s life…
Sebastian Maniscalco: “My mom is dead in the movie, which she was questioning. She’s like, ‘Why am I dead?’ And I go, ‘Ma, it’s just a movie.'”
A man is encouraged by his fiancée to spend the weekend with her wealthy, eccentric folks. Pops comes, too, and the gathering develops into quite the clash of cultures.
Sebastian Maniscalco (as Sebastian): “I was nervous to bring you here, but I didn’t know you were gonna spend the rest of the time embarrassing me.”
Robert De Niro (as Salvo Maniscalco): “How could you say that to your father?”
Alex Miranda: “South Florida, as you know — the immigrant experience is a very important part of our fabric here. How do you think all kinds of immigrants watching the movie will appreciate the story?”
Sebastian Maniscalco: “Italian, Greek, Spanish Cuban — wherever you come from, the immigrant story pretty much is very similar. I’m trying to instill in my kids that immigrant kind of mentality of ‘work hard, no one’s going to give you anything.'”
Alex Miranda: “Yo’ve got to earn it.”
Sebastian Maniscalco: “You’ve got to earn it. You start a business, you start a family, I mean, I think the immigrants really appreciate America. That’s why the immigrants are flourishing, because they’re the only ones that seem — that want to work. All these American kids are sitting on their iPads at 38 years old in their basement, so…”
Alex Miranda: “Hey, stop making fun of me, OK?”
Sebastian Maniscalco: “Ha!”
Shenanigans ensure, but father and son will soon discover the true meaning of family.
Sebastian Maniscalco: “I don’t sit in my house and write jokes. They come out of life, and talking to my dad, and spending time with my family. I feel like it’s very relatable.”
“About My Father” opens in theaters on Thursday.
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