The movie works hard to get all the pieces in place for big comedy set-pieces and the excellent cast is all given moments to shine but it suffers from one unsurmountable problem; It’s simply not funny.

| Feb 12, 2025

The best thing by far is De Niro and his zinger of a screwball-comedy performance.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 12, 2024

Just like how it happens here, even Hollywood doesn’t mind revisiting mundane tropes only to have some fun. The film may not be original and refreshing, but Robert De Niro is as he calls himself in the film. He’s the father of all, as the title says.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 27, 2023

Unfunny comedy.

| Original Score: C | Aug 6, 2023

It’s an oddball movie that had me laughing out loud, perhaps not for reasons the filmmakers intended, but I enjoyed it anyway.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 5, 2023

What keeps About My Father a touch above tolerable for the most part is De Niro’s genuine and endearing chemistry with the movie’s nominal leading man, the popular American stand-up comedian Sebastian Maniscalco.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 3, 2023

Clearly intended to be a cringe comedy a la Meet the Parents... but it stretches the concept of “funny” so thin that the memory of that scene in which a cat pees on the contents of a smashed urn will feel like dizzying comic heights in comparison.

| Original Score: 44/100 | Jul 27, 2023

The characters are all very thinly drawn stereotypes, the comic set pieces and culture clash comedy are extremely tired, and the plot is so blandly predictable that you can map out the entire story from minute one.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 25, 2023

I laughed maybe once or twice in this entire hour and half movie. Just not funny. You can see the jokes coming a mile away. If you've seen the trailer...you've seen all the best jokes in the trailer.

| Original Score: 3/10 | Jul 24, 2023

Sebastian Maniscalco plays a leading man for the first time, and he delivers the goods. Robert De Niro never phones it in. Director Laura Terruso has made a very lean film and not a shred of the comic material is wasted.

| Jul 18, 2023

We should not feel that the actors had more fun than the audience. Wait for streaming.

| Original Score: B- | Jul 7, 2023

Even with the presence of Robert de Niro, About my Father ends up being a film with few laughs, exaggerated situations, and a story you will quickly forget about in minutes. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 30, 2023

About My Father is 51 percent just fine, 49 percent irritating.

| Jun 16, 2023

A sweet movie full of heart. Unfortunately all the best comedy scenes are in the trailer.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Jun 13, 2023

The worst thing about the film is that it seems there's nothing, or no one, behind the camera. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 12, 2023

The structure is so dull it's reminiscent of countless others, and the supporting cast, while celebrated, are merely there as decorations. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 9, 2023

About My Father seems a poor bet to nudge the uninitiated toward Sebastian Maniscalco’s touring act -- and it probably won’t do much for his surely doomed bid for rom-com lead legitimacy.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 7, 2023

I will admit that this is not my kind of comedy, but I was charmed in parts.

| Jun 6, 2023

A much less funny Meet the Parents meets a much less engaging My Big Fat Greek Wedding, with a dash of low-rent Wedding Crashers thrown in.

| Jun 6, 2023

Director Laura Terruso is hamstrung by the thin script, and what looks like the oversized ego of Maniscalco, who’s used to telling his jokes to arena-sized audiences — and doesn’t do much to modulate his delivery for the movie screen.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jun 6, 2023