The New York Times
September 21, 2012 Friday
Late Edition – Final
My Uncle Rafael
By NICOLAS RAPOLD
At first glance, the kindly, bearish oldster who headlines ”My Uncle
Rafael” suggests broad comedy straight ahead: age makeup, cardigan,
hat with feather, jokes about an adult E.S.L. class. But Vahik
Pirhamzei’s Armenian title character, adapted from his stage routines,
turns out to be a sweet and often funny creation: a well-meaning,
lumbering family man from the old country who dispenses advice and
proudly dons a uniform to serve coffee at his daughter’s shop.
This walking ethnic type, familiar but grounded in specific gestures
and rhythms, is unfortunately mired in a hokey story with a needless
reality-show overlay. A budding young producer (Rachel Blanchard)
persuades Rafael to star in her first project, a TV pilot about an
Armenian uncle who must help a soon-to-be-divorced couple; the woman
is about to remarry a sketchy lawyer.
Rafael, who is universally tolerated or beloved, works to solve
everyone’s concerns, preaches the importance of love and
responsibility and reconnects with his go-getter son (also played by
Mr. Pirhamzei). The cast is a professional bunch with recognizable
faces (Missi Pyle as the woman, Joe Lo Truglio as a priest). But ”My
Uncle Rafael” stumbles over forced plotting and setups and falls prey
to its hero’s avuncular mushiness.
”My Uncle Rafael” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned) for
language and sexual references.
Opens on Friday in Manhattan. Directed by Marc Fusco 1 hour 42 minutes
From: Baghdasarian
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