Cast: Vince Vaughn as joe, Lorraine Vracco as Roberta, Talia Shire as Teresa, Brenda Vaccaro as Antonella, Tammy Pescatelli as Cousin Tammy, Joe Manganiello as Bruno, Drea de Mateo as Stella, Susan Sarandon as Shia, Linda Cardellini as Olivia, Campbell Scott as Edward,

Written By: Liz Maccie

Directed By: Stephen Chboski (The perks Of Being A wallflower)

Original Score By:Marcelo Zarvos Wonder)

Studio: Netflix

Release Year: 2025

Rated PG

Runtime: 98 minutes

Audio Description produced By: International Digital Center

Written By: Liz Gutman

Narrated By:

What is it?: Nominated for an Emmy for Best TV Movie, Nonas is based on a true story of an Italian man (Vaughn), who after losing his mother, decides to make a change in his career and open a restaurant. This isn’t a normal restaurant, he wants the chefs to all be real Italian grandmothers, otherwise known as Nonas, cooking authentic cuisine passed down through the generations.

Why It Works: it is charming enough. While Vince Vaughn certainly has a very specific speech pattern, this is more of a project requiring him to be less like his wise cracking sarcastic typecast, and instead convince the audience of the joy in the authenticity of eating real Italian food from real Italian grandmothers. It isn’t a particularly serious film, which makes for a breezy watch. The supporting cast is full of actresses of a certain age we should all be casting more often. Susan Sarandon is a standout, but where has Talía Shire been? Lorraine Bracco? Nonas not only taps into the idea that Italian grandmothers have purpose still, but also casts a handful of ladies we should have been casting all along.the audio description is also just fantastic, but more on that later.

What Doesn’t Work: it is a light fluff piece, and depending on how much you connect or resonate with the idea of family, food, and community, will guide how much you’re tied into the narrative. It never pushes too hard, because it is interested in being accessible broad entertainment, a comedy destined for the AARP crowd and their year end awards. I was a little surprised to see it get the Emmy nomination, because it feels too sugary sweet at times. Even the negatives here aren’t enough to completely drag down the film, since it basically achieves what it set out to do. but in an age of streaming debuts, one wonders if this will be remembered in five or ten years. What is the shelf life for nonas?

the Audio Description: What a perky upbeat narrator. he would drive me insane on certain projects, like how We Were Liars just had the wrong narrator. I wonder if he has another level. but, there’s so much he can describe, and I’d love to hear him do some family nd kids stuff as well. This film is light enough to support his breezy tone, and Liz Gutman’s script is rich with content. Right at the beginning, we got not just character descriptions, and some ethnic/racial descriptions, but also the smattering of food everywhere was treated like a character. That’s what I love most about Nonas, that the food in the audio description track is almost like a character, in how prominent and specific the references are.

Why You Might Like It: if you liked Book Club, 80 For Brady, or enjoy every time Stanley Tucci gets paid to roam Italy, this is for you. If you’re not a huge Vince Vaughn fan, he’s toned down here.

Why You Might Not Like it: If you really love super serious movies of consequence, you might want to watch The Brutalist for the eight time. Also, if you just really can’t stand Vince Vaughn at all, it would be hard to ignore how he’s in nearly every scene.

Final Thoughts: representational of what is essentially a labor of love, the film that depicts the story of Nonas isn’t quite made with the same love and care as the authentic real deal, but eats more like Olive Garden for people that are just fine with Olive Garden.

Fresh: 7.4/10