Netflix film “Nonnas”, which was released early in this week, is a predictable but undeniably likable comedy drama inspired by one real-life Italian restaurant in New York City. You can clearly see what it is going to serve from the very beginning, but that comes with enough wit and sincerity, and the movie surely earns its expected feel-good moments. 

The hero of the story is Joe Scaravella (Vince Vaughn), a plain working class dude living in a Brooklyn neighborhood of New York City. After the prologue scene showing one special day in his childhood period, the movie instantly moves forward to 40 years later, and we see him grieving over the recent death of his Italian American mother. Now left alone in his family house, he does not know what to do next for his life, and that makes him miss his deceased mother more.

At least, his mother left many of her special recipes to him, though he cannot find one certain important recipe. While doing some cooking based on these old recipes of his mother, Scaravella is reminded more of how important his mother and grandmother’s cooking was for him and his family and neighbors, and then he gets a rather unlikely idea when he visits a Staten Island neighborhood of New York City on one day. He comes across an old and shabby Italian restaurant put on sale due to the owner’s recent death, and he soon decides to buy it for turning it into a special place for himself as well as others, though he does not know anything about culinary business from the start.

Of course, he surely needs a chef right now, and that is where Scaravella wants to try something different. He is going to hire old Italian American ladies who can cook as well as his mother and grandmother, and he believes that they and their own cooking will bring the restaurant a special personal touch to be experienced and savored.

Not so surprisingly, not many old ladies come to his job interview, but he comes to hire four old ladies at least. First, he convinces his mother’s old friend Roberta (Lorraine Bracco) to work at his restaurant despite her initial reluctance. Thanks to Olivia (Linda Cardellini), who was incidentally a schoolmate of his during their adolescent period, he also hires Olivia’s old neighbor Antonella (Brenda Vaccaro), and then there comes Teresa (Talia Shire), a shy old lady who recently decided to do something different just like Scaravella. In addition, Scaravella persuades a local hairdresser named Gia (Susan Sarandon) to join his business because he knows well that she is quite good at making desserts.

What follows next is quite predictable to say the least. Scaravella has some money to be invested into his risky business, but then he must borrow more from his bank for renovating his restaurant with his best friend Bruno (Joe Manganiello) and Bruno’s wife Stella (Drea de Matteo). Furthermore, he must balance himself constantly between his little business and his current job, and he certainly needs some help from his several colleagues at his workplace.

Above all, Scaravella frequently needs to get things under control for his old employees. All of them are surely cooking experts in one way or another, but they do not get along well with each other at times, and that certainly causes some headache for their sincere employer. Nevertheless, the ladies gradually find some harmony as working together more, and they certainly appreciate how Scaravella gives them another chance to feel alive in their life.

However, his restaurant business does not look that promising on the opening day, and the situation becomes more daunting for him, but Scaravella keeps trying as much as possible. He continues to finance his restaurant as before, and he also tries to contact many food critics in the city, though none of them shows any willingness to visit his restaurant.

However, the movie keeps maintaining its lightweight tone as usual, and the screenplay by Liz Maccie engages us more as its main characters come to show more human depth along the story. There is a sweet and poignant scene where the four old ladies come to share their private feelings among themselves, and there is also some extra warmth from a low-key romantic subplot between Scaravella and Olivia, who get closer to each other as she helps him on a certain legal matter involved with his restaurant business.

Above all, the movie depends a lot on the enjoyable ensemble performance from its main cast members. While Vince Vaughn dutifully holds the center as demanded, Lorraine Bracco, Brenda Vaccaro, Talia Shire, and Susan Sarandon are always a pleasure to watch, and the movie becomes quite delightful whenever these wonderful actresses share the screen together. Linda Cardellini, Joe Manganiello, and Drea de Matteo, who once appeared with Bracco in acclaimed HBO drama series “The Sopranos”, are also solid in their substantial supporting roles, and Campbell Scott, who once co-directed “Big Night” (1996) with Stanley Tucci, makes a brief but crucial appearance later in the story.

On the whole, “Nonnas”, which means “Grandmothers” in Italian, is one of more entertaining products from Netflix, and director Stephen Chbosky, who previously directed “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” (2012) and “Wonder” (2017), did a competent job of handling the story and characters with enough care and sensitivity. The result surely looks and feels quite familiar, but it serves fairly well, and I do not see any reason to grumble.