In this harmless indie comedy, Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia) is a macho patriarch with two mouthy kids and acting aspirations he conceals from his wife (Julianna Margulies) for fear of sullying his manly image. But a deeper secret threatens to come to light when his bastard son — abandoned before birth — shows up as an inmate at the prison where Vince works.
Just when this web of lies threatens to unravel, everything wraps up in an enjoyably campy turn that leaves all the characters with comical egg on their faces. Writer/director Raymond De Felitta knows how to depict family dysfunction, but he lards his film with asinine quips and too many headache-inducing dinner-table shouting matches, and the humor is so contrived, Garcia’s Bronx accent sounds channeled through Fred Flintstone.
Amid the awkwardness, Alan Arkin scores a show-stealing cameo as Rizzo’s acting coach, who harbors a jealous distaste for Marlon Brando.
