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Memorial Day Weekend offered a couple different options, including a family comedy and the latest Live-Action film from Disney. Below are my thoughts. 

About My Father (Theaters)
Starring: Sebastian Maniscalco, Robert De Niro, Leslie Bibb, Kim Cattrall, David Rasche, Anders Holm, and Brett Dier
Synopsis: Family can be tricky. They inform so much of the way we grow into adults and how we define ourselves. But that can be tough, too. Maniscalco based a lot of his comedy on his roots and his family, now bringing that story to the big screen with the latest comedy, About My Father. In this film, we find Maniscalco playing a version of himself. He’s on the cusp of proposing to his girlfriend Ellie (Bibb). But to get his grandmother’s ring, he’s got to navigate his father (De Niro), who tags along to meet Ellie’s family over Fourth of July Weekend. Sebastian’s nervous but can he get through it and come out ahead on the other side? The marketing campaign for this film combined with Maniscalco’s comedy should give you an idea of what to expect. In fact, most of the most amusing bits come in the trailer. The film itself is not as funny as it could be, but it does have its charms. It’s also a fun film about family—both the father and son dynamic between Maniscalco and De Niro, and the unique family dynamics for Ellie as well. At times it’s entertaining and at just 90 minutes it doesn’t overstay its welcome. I enjoyed it for what it was, but I had hopes that it might be a little more clever.
Rating: Rated PG-13 for suggestive material, language and partial nudity.
Verdict: Two and a half stars out of five

The Little Mermaid (Theaters)
Starring: Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Jacob Tremblay, Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Javier Bardem, and Melissa McCarthy
Synopsis: By now, we’ve seen Disney adapt a number of its classic animated features into a live-action film. We’ve also seen it happen with varying degrees of success. Some of the re-makes have become watchable classics themselves. Others have fallen flat. So, the question remains what will happen with The Little Mermaid. In this adaptation, from director Rob Marshall, we get the classic songs we remember, and the story beats you’re expecting. That’s combined with some new original songs, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The trick here is creating the underwater sequences in a moving and believable way. It’s a trick neatly accomplished, as the underwater sequences hum. So, too, do the musical numbers we’ve come to know and love. I didn’t love all the new numbers, but a hybrid rap featuring Diggs as Sebastian and Awkwafina as Scuttle was fun, too. The performances are also solid. McCarthy makes an imposing villain, but she also appears to be having a lot of fun. Meanwhile, this film is all about Ariel, and in Bailey the film finds a winner. She’s got a beautiful voice and a captivating screen presence. This is an enjoyable and engaging adaptation, one of the better offerings of this type from Disney. It’s worth checking out on the big screen as it brings this story to life for the next generation of Disney viewers.
Rating: Rated PG for action/peril and some scary images.
Verdict: Three and a half stars out of five