Don't Make Me Laugh
Mafia! Doesn't Hit

Charging to see the movie Mafia! -- the latest spoof from Airplane! co-creator Jim Abrahams -- should be considered a crime. A misdemeanor at the very least. While the movie does have its moments and provides a few unexpected laughs, the majority of the comedy has already been spliced into the previews. Watching the movie, when the best moments have been seen in repeated commercials, is disappointing.

Jay Mohr plays Anthony Cortino, the son of a Mafia crime boss (played by Lloyd Bridges). A war hero, he comes home to his family with his young love Diane (Christina Applegate, from television's "Married, With Children"). When his father is gunned down by a rival family, Anthony offers to extract revenge by killing the enemy. The scene is right out of The Godfather, but Abrahams fails to direct it with any attempt at art or homage. It's just one more silly gag in an endless line.

The movie takes jabs at some of the most well-known gangster movies of recent years, including The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Casino. There are also a number of other references to such icons as Forrest Gump, Tiny Tim from A Christmas Carol, and Chuckie, the murdering doll from Child's Play. You'd have to be an avid film fan to catch them all.

This is not smart comedy, though. In fact, many of the jokes are mindless sight gags which cater to the lowest common denominator. Bridges, who in his final years became known for his klutzy antics in spoofs like Airplane! and Hot Shots!, does his fair share of falling over and bumping into things. There are also several references of a more scatological nature, and one mass vomiting scene which will make the squeamish sick.

As such, Mafia! fails to rise above the spoof formula which Abrahams has made his trademark. There is no attempt to tell a funny gangster story (like Johnny Dangerously, for instance), but only to rip off one great movie after another. The humor is not connected at all with the plot, but appears to be "canned" jokes crammed into the story wherever necessary to get a laugh.

If nothing else, Mafia! offers a slight diversion from the action flicks which have become the hallmark of summer movies. Still, it would be better to see this movie when it comes out on video, after one has forgotten all the gags from the trailers.

MY RATING: 3 out of 10.

RATED: PG-13
RUN TIME: 86 min.