Jane Austen's Mafia! (1998)

I remember when this came out in theaters... I went with my sister and cousins and NOBODY wanted to see this one. I can't remember how I convinced them to waste their money and time on this but at the end, it was a very funny experience.The movie is a delightful parody of crime movies in the likes of "The Godfather" and "Goodfellas" mainly. It parodies with black humor the distinctive situations of Italian mafia, their modus of operandi, clichés, and even makes fun of almighty mafia movies.The humor relies on scatological jokes and situations (everything about the opening "puking at the funeral" scene).Then it gets support from well written dialogs and very clever in-jokes. The acting is really good and funny. Christina Applegate demonstrates she's a fine actress. I haven't seen this movie in 11 years but I remember it as a very funny experience. Underrated unfairly.

The other night I was looking for a movie to watch and I came across Mafia! For the most part, I'm a decent fan of mafia films, I love Goodfellas, Casino, and The Godfather. So a parody seemed like a good idea to me. After all, these films are always serious and sometimes you need to get a good joke out of them. So Mafia seemed like a good idea to me. I watched it last night and I have to say that while there were a few laughs here and there, Mafia's humor is mostly forced and typical. I know that most parody films are usually predictable in humor, but it would have been nice if it could have had more originality. Or maybe I'm wrong, mafia movies are just not what you could parody for a story. Mafia pretty much has the typical humor of kid getting hit by every object, movies that they parody that have nothing to do with the subject they're going for, fart, and sex jokes. It's just not original; but there are a few laughs here and there I admit. The story could have worked if they just cut back on a few typical gags.Anthony is part of the mafia family, he runs a casino in Las Vegas and his father is the Don of the family. But when his father is almost murdered during a wedding dance, he goes into the family business. With the non existing help from his coke addict brother, he must try to survive this business while trying to maintain a normal life. But he just about looses it when he decides to go ahead and kill everyone.Mafia! is over all not the most horrible comedy I've ever seen, there are movies that are a thousand times worse, but I think that the crew of the film just got a little out of control with what they had. I think it could have been a good film if the jokes were not just so predictable and bland. The cast seemed to have an alright time making the movie, I don't think they were really into it, except for Lloyd Bridges who played The Godfather, he looked like he had a fun time. I don't know if I would recommend this film, if you're looking for an average parody, this the movie for you, but don't expect anything more.4/10

Jim Abrahams has written several of my favorite fast-paced comedies, like "Hot Shots" and "The Naked Gun", and of course my favorite "Airplane!". This was the first movie that i felt it was obvious he was losing his touch. The comedy is not as fast-paced here as it was before, nor is it as spot-on. Spoofing the "Godfather"-movies shouldn't be very hard really. Those movies are as potentially silly as great movies always are, walking the thin line that greatness is.The problem here is that i think they missed so many things that could have been spoofed, and they included some things that didn't need spoofing. The best part of the movie in my opinion is the one with the young Cortino coming to America. The more contemporary parts are less funny and more silly. Mostly i find it to be a lack in the script department as both Lloyd Bridges and Jay Mohr are pretty suitable for their parts.In the end this is about 50 percent embarrassing and 50 percent funny, much like many of Leslie Nielsens later movies. It's far from "Hot Shots" and "Naked Gun" but then again such comedy is not what it was.

I stumbled upon this movie a couple weeks ago & thought it was so funny! You have to be mafia-conscious to know what's going on & what films these spoofs are taken from in order to get the gist. The Godfather films, Casino, Goodfellas (even Jurassic Park & Forrest Gump are thrown in as a bit of a surprise!) There's a 'Ginger-type' girl from Casino paroding Sharon Stone & so many more people playing people from those famous films! See if you can pick out who's playing who & that's the fun of it! And the scenes have been re-created so exact, it's eerie! Sometimes you forget you're NOT watching The Godfather until you see white-haired Lloyd Bridges in that dark 'business office' of his naming people & events that are non-existent! See it for laughs! (Ladies, see Louis Mandylor as the middle-aged Vincenzo! That's what caught MY eye!)