The Ragu Incident

What a pleasant surprise. I was on vacation in Switzerland when I came across this funny little American movie. I don't know any of the actors, but boy are they funny. The lead in this movie plays a character named Paulie -- He is kind of a male chauvanist, Italian guy who is looking for a wife. When he finally meets the girl of his dreams, she tries to serve him Tomato sauce from a jar and this guy goes nuts and dumps her -- It was one of the funniest scenes I have seen in a movie in a long time. Apparently the star of the movie wrote it as well. I can't wait to see what he does next.

Finding this quirky love comedy/drama feels like an easter egg hunt. At least that was my recent experience when searching for this movie again.

I literally spent half an hour online trying to track down a physical copy of this independent low-budget movie at a reasonable price. I finally found a used DVD in Germany, which includes the original English audio track. (This is based on my search expedition for a DVD in Western Europe, your mileage may vary).

The movie seems to have vanished from the Internet since it was released back in 2000. I didn't find any major or even minor streaming service featuring "The Ragu Incident" (TRI) while IMDB doesn't show a movie poster or other pictures (at the time of writing this review, at least).

Most of the remaining physical copies available on DVD (I don't think there ever was a Blu-Ray release later on (?)) fetch quite a mark-up, at least in Europe.

TRI is a melodrama featuring a single Italo-American shoe salesman in his 30s (pretending to be slick and cool within his circle of male friends, but a true hapless Mama's boy at heart) meeting a young woman in his shoe shop. They start dating each other. He introduces her to his social circles, including his family. All goes fairly well, until the Ragu incident strikes havoc (no spoilers here, promised).

The movie was obviously shot on a minimal shoestring budget (one can for example see the tip of a microphone dangling down in one scene), but it has a lot of charm and humor:

A true Mama's Boy of Italian origin (who prefers to cultivate his slick, but ultimately fake macho-man image) meets a modern, independent woman. Sparks eventually fly (but mainly in heated arguments over a recipe, not in bed) once their initial honeymoon period is over.

Or in a short summary: Jersey Shore (the infamous US-reality TV series), - but with brains, charm and wits this time around.

That's why - despite its very low profile - I remembered the movie fondly enough many years later (I wanted to watch it again, but couldn't find it any longer in my physical movie collection). The other sparse reviews here on IMDB seem to agree, many of them even gave TRI a perfect 10/10 rating. I'm pretty sure that this movie would have been more successful with a better and wider (for an independent film) distribution effort at the time.

I hope TRI becomes available (again?) online one day. Good luck tracking down a physical copy in the meantime. Also note that the DVD releases I found online feature slightly different covers and movie titles, but it is the same film. Title variations include:

• Ragu
• Ragu, Mama's Boy
• The Ragu Incident (TRI)

The third version (TRI) appears to be the official title used in English-speaking countries. That's at least my conclusion since I found the following tidbit on the director's Wikipedia page:

Paul Harather (TRI Director): "... his film The Ragu Incident (2000) received the New York International Film Festival Audience Award in 2000."

Rating: 9/10. And that concludes my review for this obscure movie. I will now go and prepare a fresh bowl of pasta for myself. Writing about Ragu sauce makes you hungry. The DVD edition even includes a Ragu recipe. The good old days of extras included in physical movie media.

"The Ragu Incident" is a brilliant comedy about 33-year old shoe salesman Paulie who just refuses to grow up and still lives at his parent's place. He meets beautiful Victoria, Italian American like him and definitely his soulmate. But then he discovers that she uses "Ragu" sauce instead of making home-made sauce. He breaks up with her... all his friends tell him he made the right thing. But somehow it just doesn't feel right.... warmly recommended!

I only saw this as a play and it was done very well. I believe it was produced by Ted Lange back then. Paolo and Josie played all of the characters in the play and they had great chemistry together...I'm surprised that they aren't actually married in real life by now! I think I went and saw this play three or four times (with a different date each time) and it was funnier each time I saw it. I can only imagine the movie being even better. I did always wonder what Paolo's mom, dad and sister looked like. I still like to imitate the Father Frank character to this day...He was also referred to as the neighborhood guidance counselor. Paolo's impersonation of him still sticks with me today. Paolo was a friend of mine years ago in Hollywood and its good to see that his script finally went to the big screen...I just want to know where to rent the movie.

Post if you can tell me where you can rent or buy this film ! ! - Nothing but great reviews if you know where please let everyone know - I am sure there are a lot of fans looking for it thank you thank you thank you Post if you can tell me where you can rent or buy this film ! ! - Nothing but great reviews if you know where please let everyone know - I am sure there are a lot of fans looking for it thank you thank you thank you Post if you can tell me where you can rent or buy this film ! ! - Nothing but great reviews if you know where please let everyone know - I am sure there are a lot of fans looking for it thank you thank you thank you