Leave it to writer/director Stephen Chbosky to make a comforting dramedy about an Italian restaurant where the chefs are all adorable grandmas. Chbosky—whose Perks of Being a Wallflower is a personal favorite both in book and movie form—understands the emotional core of this true story. Yes, Nonnas, aptly titled as being a fond Italian term for Grandmas, tells a sweet story of channeling grief through food. After all, food is love too, right? Vince Vaughn leads a cast that contains women of a certain age and Magic Mike alum alike. Nonnas unapologetically wears its heart on its pasta sauce-stained sleeve.
When his beloved mother and foodie muse passes away, Joe (Vaughn, Wedding Crashers, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) seems to have been drained of his purpose in life. A “for sale” restaurant storefront he spots could make for a promising fresh start. Acting spontaneously, Joe decides he wants to open an Italian joint of his own there, named after his recently-deceased mom. Pitching the concept of “Enoteca Maria” to his best friend, Bruno (Joe Manganiello, True Blood, Magic Mike XXL), and Bruno’s wife, Stella (Drea de Matteo, The Sopranos, Desperate Housewives), Joe wants to make the whole thing about family. Paying forward generational recipes and bringing in Nonnas to be the chefs, Joe’s unique viewpoint could be a total game changer. Along the way, Joe bumps into his old prom date, Olivia (Linda Cardellini, Scooby-Doo, Freaks & Geeks), who may prove to be an invaluable resource.
Who wouldn’t love the idea of going out to eat and paying for the actual quality of grandma’s cooking? Even more than that, being treated as a member of the family just by walking through the doors? It’s no surprise why the concept of this restaurant had such an appeal. As the natural next step, Joe must scout out Nonnas of all shapes and sizes to inject their recipes and flair into each dish. Collectively, the restaurant will represent them all. There’s no villain present, unless time, money, and doubt are considered as such. Instead, Nonnas lives in its quiet beauty: burnt sauce, bickering grannies, late-night pasta epiphanies, and the aching tenderness of food as memory. In a later scene, Joe makes a treasured recipe of his mother‘s while a flashback shows his wide-eyed adoration as she crafts that very same recipe before a child Joe.
Drenched in nostalgia and simmered in generational love, Chbosky’s film makes for a sweet antipasto, if not a full main course. Nonnas is maybe a little on the simple side. Still, the infectious nature of the cutesy script from Liz Maccie—and Susan Sarandon as a flamboyant hairdresser—will win over a lot of casual Netflix viewers. Hug your loved ones close, and always pay forward their recipes. In the words of Joe, “food is love.” Why not take a seat at Nonnas’s table, and simply let them cook?
Let the Nonnas whip up something special when their heartwarming mini-meal comes out of the oven and onto Netflix on Friday, May 9th.
