DVD Review: Homie Spumoni

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When Homie Spumoni arrived on my desk I could not help but laugh at the cover. The DVD case is standard, but the artwork on the cover features Donald Faison, who plays Enzo, surrounded by black people on one side, whites on the other, and he is holding a tube of salami in his hand. He looks innocent enough, but you can sense that this is going to be an off the wall comedy and that is exactly what it is.

While I am not normally one to fall in love with a movie that wasn’t considered good enough to go to the theaters, I genuinely liked Homie Spumoni. It made me laugh, had some people I recognized, and attempted to be socially conscious all at once. Like many comedy plots, there are moments of silliness, but overall everything worked well together and the result is a funny and enjoyable film.

Release Info:
Homie Spumoni was released by Warner Home Video on October 9, 2007. While it was a direct to video release, meaning that it never hit the movie theaters, there is something worth watching about this movie. The DVD includes a few special features and a genuine comedy with a little bit of a message tucked in where you least expect it.

The Homie Spumoni Plot:
Homie Spumoni details the life of the Italian or Black, depending on how you see things, Renato (Leroy). Renato was born into a Black family, but ended up floating down an Italian river until he was discovered by some Italian women, one of whom decides to take him home. Realizing that raising a Black child in their Italian village could be rough, the new parents move to America where Enzo opens a deli that Renato will one day help manage.

The movie kicks up at that point right after the family moves to America. We see Renato is so Italian that it never crosses his mind that he could be Black. He loves Dean Martin, makes a mean sandwich, and he loves pasta. His best friend is a loud, but nice Italian born guy, Buddy (Joey Fatone) who doesn’t seem to notice anything different about Renato either. Of course, as a child, Renato’s mother told him that Italians come in all different shades, so was there ever anything to wonder?

Renato has what seems to be the perfect life. He has a great Jewish girlfriend, Alli (Jamie Lynn Sigler) and has set his best friend up with her best friend, a Japanese girl, Nipp Su (Kira Clavell). They all hang out and get along great. Alli has some issues explaining to her mother that she’s dating a Catholic, but none of that matters when Renato discovers that his name is really Leroy and he’s really Black and not Italian!

Thelma (Whoopi Goldberg) and George (Paul Mooney) arrive to tell Renato/Leroy that they have found him after all these years. From then on he tries to convince himself he likes shooting hoops and that hip hop sounds better than he ever thought it did before. It’s obvious though that the one thing Renato/Leroy wants is to merge the family and see that everyone is happy. That could be asking a lot though and as the story goes on things just continue to get crazier, ending with a shocking yet funny ending.

Audio/Visual:
The video for Homie Spumoni is presented in a widescreen format with a compression rate of 1.66:1. The resulting video comes out clean without any grunge or hard to see moments. Things are standard, but come out easy to see and perfectly fine in the color department. Audio is offered in the form of Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 so everything comes through clear and easy to hear. Overall, while the picture was basic, everything came out with no complaints.

Special Features:
There are two main special features on the Homie Spumoni DVD. The first is a gag reel. The second item is more of a featurette. “Deep Fried and Covered in Sugar: Joey Fatone, Tony Rock, and Paul Mooney get Real over a Meal” is the second major feature on the disc. The trailer and other basic features such as subtitles (English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish) are also included.

Bottom Line:
Homie Spumoni was something that I thought was going to be a waste of time to watch. Instead, it was quirky and funnier than I ever expected it could be. It offers you a chance to laugh at racial stereotypes and see that sometimes those things mean little, if anything, in the grand scheme of things. You can pick this DVD up at Amazon for $20. However, this could be one of those movies that some people love and find hilarious and others just don’t get or enjoy. Therefore, I recommend renting this before buying it just to make sure your $20 is well spent.