Recipe of Netflix film 'Nonnas' is sweet and savory

A minor but thematically important story thread in “Nonnas” sees Vince Vaughn's character struggling to find just the right sweetness as he endeavors to recreate the Sunday gravy made by his late mother. What could the missing ingredient be? A certain type of sugar? Honey? What?

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Fortunately, “Nonnas” — a family-friendly film from Netflix debuting in time for Mother's Day — has no such issues. The components that make it a heartwarming winner—the based-on-a-true-story narrative, the onscreen work of Vaugn and supporting cast members such as Lorraine Bracco, Brenda Vaccaro and Joe Manganiello and the behind-the-camera work of its husband-and-wife filmmaking tandem, Stephen Chbosky and Liz Maccie — are easy to identify.

Vaughn portrays Brooklynite Joe Scaravella, who seems more adrift than ever after his mom's passing. Members of his large Italian family try to comfort him with food. However, it’s his best friend since childhood, Bruno (Manganiello), and Bruno's wife, Stella (Drea de Matteo), who try to offer him something more substantial: a push toward making a change in his life, aided by the $200,000 his mother has left him.

However, they are rocked when Joe, who has worked for years at a Metropolitan Transit Authority garage, tells them he has used all his inheritance to buy a space in Staten Island where he will open an Italian restaurant, Enoteca Maria, in honor of his mother.