Since the explosion of Tarantino films like “Reservoir Dogs” and “True Romance”, and mega success of “Pulp Fiction”, the genre of “mob comedy/drama” has had a tremendous resurgence. Unfortunately, the term “resurgence” does not convey the originality this abundance is SORELY lacking. Sadly, “Wisegirls” does nothing to buck this trend.
Mira Sorvino stars as a poor little girl who recently moved in with her invalid grandmother to escape her sad and mysterious past. Melora Walters and Mariah Carey round out the group in this by-the-numbers yarn about a trio of waitresses who work at an Italian restaurant whose clientele is suspect to say the least.
Shockingly, Sorvino’s med-school dropout character has one of the worst cases of “movie smarts” in recent memory. She’s smart when needed and incredibly naive when the plot asks. She’s also apparently sees these clearly connected customers as “proud Italian Americans.” The fact that her boss continually refers to patrons as “members of the family” and coins phrases like “pizan” and “forgedaboudit” simply rolls off as normal.
Carey is the bitchy, yet lovable server, who has a heart of gold … when she is not passing drugs through the desserts that is, and Walters is the quiet friend whose hiding a big secret, secret that turns out to be as ridiculous as the films final act.
If there is one good thing to report it would have to be the surprising chemistry between the three in the first half of the film. For it is here where the story, as well as the amazing pasta plates, flourish and can be quite entertaining, but once the “mob-mixup-saw-something-wasn’t-suppossed-to” element rears its rotted head it is all down hill.
