The Matchmaker: A Dusty Relic or Worth the Watch?

Look, if you’re looking for a tight, modern script that respects your time, The Matchmaker is probably going to drive you up the wall. It’s one of those movies that feels like a stage play where someone forgot to take the furniture out before the cameras started rolling. If you like old, noisy Italian cinema, you might get a kick out of it. If you’re allergic to dated theatrics, skip it.

The whole thing moves at this weird, stop-and-start rhythm. You have Angelo Musco doing his thing, which is mostly just looking bewildered while everyone around him talks over one another. There’s a specific scene in the second act involving a dining table that lasts about three minutes too long. You can literally see the actors waiting for their turn to shout their lines. It’s not graceful, but it’s definitely honest.

I kept thinking about The Cat's-Paw while watching this. Both have that desperate need to be funny, though they go about it in such wildly different ways. Where that one feels like a frantic machine, The Matchmaker feels more like a chaotic Sunday lunch where nobody is listening to each other. 🍝

There’s this moment where a character tries to hide behind a curtain that’s clearly too thin. It’s a trope, sure, but the way the set shakes? It made me laugh. It wasn't supposed to be funny, but there it was. Small things like that make me feel like the movie is at least alive, even if it's struggling to breathe.

Is the plot thin? Absolutely. It’s basically a thread held together by pure willpower and a lot of loud, expressive hand gestures. It’s not really about the romance at all. It’s about the noise. People shouting about dowries and secret meetings in alleyways, all while the camera sits there like a stone wall.

I wouldn't call this a masterpiece. I wouldn't even call it a 'hidden gem.' It’s just an old movie that exists, taking up space, trying to make you smile with gags that were probably already stale when they were written. But honestly? It's fine. It's perfectly, weirdly fine.

Things I noticed while not paying enough attention:

• The background extras in the street scenes have zero idea what to do with their hands.
• The audio mixing makes the dialogue sound like it’s coming from inside a tin can.
• There's a prop vase that appears in three different rooms without ever being moved.
• I’m pretty sure someone behind the camera coughed during a serious monologue.

Don't go into this expecting some grand artistic statement. It’s just people running around in costumes, trying to keep a sinking ship of a plot afloat. Sometimes, that’s all you really need on a Tuesday night. Or maybe it isn't. Who knows. 🤷‍♂️