Nonnas

Repeatedly drives home its point about the unifying force of a homecooked meal as an embodiment of community, and even as it overcrowds its narrative pot with too many unnecessary condiments that get lost in the mix, the result is ultimately palatable.

The nonnas are a delight, Vaughn is charming, and Cardellini is effortlessly Cardellini. It's also the perfect distraction to watch with your in-laws over a holiday or a long weekend when you need 90 blessed minutes of peace.

You're not going to be planted at the edge of your seat here, but "Nonnas" has ample pleasures.

"Nonnas" follows a familiar underdog formula and checks off story beats you can set your watch by.

Nonnas eventually won me over with its sweetness, and it should be appealing to adult audiences who want to see these actors at work and enjoy some gentle quasi-realistic drama with a few jokes tossed in.

There's little that's unpredictable about "Nonnas" and in this instance that doesn't matter. It's familiar and welcome.

A charming, though predictable feel-good restaurant-themed dramedy.

Homey, hammy, heartfelt and hunger-inducing, Nonnas emphasizes that food is love in this warm and fuzzy ode to family. It's the closest feeling to comfort food as it gets,

Nonnas is an earnest, slight, but charming tribute to a succession of Italian-American tropes, from food to grandmothers and the many intersections between the two

Nothing wrong with a bit of sentimental heart, and Vaughn stretches his movie persona as a middle aged man in mourning for Mom. The "murderer's row" of actor Nonnas have great chemistry, and there is a lightness that makes the redemption work. Be Italisn!

No subtext goes unexplained, and at times the score underlines what we already know. But the actors always find the grace notes, and there are sparks in the way everyday exchanges turn sharp with compassion.

If ever there existed a checklist of Food Movie Must-Dos, "Nonnas" tries to accomplish each...and while no one can fault director Stephen Chbosky,...nothing beyond that exists to render this particular story as anything other than average.

Writer Liz Maccie provides some irresistible material for her real-life husband, director Stephen Chbosky, that is guaranteed to touch the heart and make no apologies for doing so. It also will make you very hungry.

Nonnas is a perfectly digestible advertisement for Enoteca Maria, both through its decadent food photography and successful evocation of the warmth of a hard-built community.

Corny and cloying, "Nonnas" struggles to gin up energy in a plot whose every roadblock is comfortably predictable.

It isn't a prestige film; it's the kind of story that reminds us we can heal through connections to the past and each other. I could sit and eat a bowl of it, topped with Pecorino Romano and a good Sunday gravy.

You'd have to be a little stunad to think a movie like this isn't going to work out nicely, but with all these nice ingredients simmering, Nonnas ends up being a real treat.

"Nonnas," like comfort food, may be a little obvious, a little safe, but that's the point.

One of those rare films a viewer can watch with mom. Or nonna.

Come for the healthy servings of capuzzelle, zeppole, and scungilli, but prepare to choke on the stale and squishy platitudes about family and tradition.