The only reason I actually decided to watch this movie was because of the reviews – some good, most bad. I wasn't really expecting much from the movie
but something like a Gay version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith. And the movie doesn't disappoint. It's cute, funny, hilarious and probably one of the best movies I have seen in the past week. And I feel like I should defend the filmmakers.
Most reviews centered on the leads not being gay enough or the lack of intimacy. But anyone who has actually been in a relationship for more than 10 years can vouch that though they did not hold hands and kiss, they had an amazing chemistry. They have merely crossed that hand-holding stage, which Jenny and Matthew still have, and have reached a stage where they are just comfortable in each others' presence. I have been with my partner for 13 years, and our relationship is quite similar. The fact that they risk their lives for each other every day can only vouch for that! The eyeing scenes, where they just need to look at each other to ascertain their feelings are actually the highlight of their relationship. Esp. "We are gonna grow old together". They even hold hands, if you closely, in the scene where Stephan's mother mistakes the singer for the Drag Queen and later, when Stephan realizes that only reason Danny works for the Mafia with Stephan, is because Stephan is too busy to spend time with him, otherwise. And not to mention the last scene: "So as not to offend the Gods!"
There are lot of stereotypical jokes, esp. when the Mob enforcers are learning how to "become Gay" like learning the history of Cher and Sir. Elton John, but they are included only because the filmmakers are going for stereotypes. Because, unlike Danny and Stephan, who just happen to be two men in a relationship, the straight waiters actually have to convince everyone including Stephan and Matt's parents, that they are, in fact, stereotypical Gay waiters, so as not to blow Danny and Stephan's cover. Even Vito and the Don pitch in, pretending to be their workers - much to Stephan's discomfort – even going as far as arranging the drag show. This would probably be considered the greatest honour in the Mafia, at least in Hollywood. This is just the filmmakers' way of trying to say that in spite of being "Gay" (and prob. discharged from the army under the DADT, as they refer, "we asked
we told") they are greatly respected and honoured by the Don himself.
As far as the cooking scene goes and the guys destroy everything they touch, it doesn't mean they are stupid or incompetent, it just means that just because they are gay, it doesn't necessarily mean they have to know how to cook. There are lots of people, men and women, gay and straight alike, who wouldn't know the first thing about making a goose-liver patte, or ricotta cheesecake, or even boil a proper egg or even make a proper tea for that matter and these two just happen to be them. But they are good at what they do
they are good killers and enforcers. How come no one complained when Angelina Jolie fed Brad Pitt "peas" in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but when two Gay guys do not know how to cook, it's like law against nature? How many people can claim both expertise in guns and expertise in cooking at the same time? The guys' expertise is seen in the last fight, where they singlehandedly organize, fight and overturn the hostage situation.
But the movie doesn't center on the guys or their sexuality, it centers more around their "coming out", as Mafia Hit men, to an FBI Agent father! And that is even more difficult than anticipated. The movie is out and out Jenny's flick. She is the catalyst that binds the movie together. Whether convincing her family to accept a non-Italian, non-Catholic son-in-law from the Heartland; to convincing Danny and Stephan to let her arrange a party for Stephan's father; or whether its convincing her father, the Don, to let his sons, the future "Padrone" be the cook and the decorator at Stephan father's party; to making sure that Danny and Stephan, should finally be able to lead the family by hiding the fact that her fiancé is actually a Sicilian – which backfires, when Matt accidentally tells Don; to actually going out of the way to convince the Mob enforcers to act as waiters. Jenny happens to be the true star of the movie.
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