Team Marco

It’s old world versus new world, and video games versus the world’s oldest game in this charming coming-of-age story that celebrates friendship, family, and above all, the squabbling, gregarious, loving Italian American culture of Staten Island’s South Beach. Eleven-year-old Marco (Owen Vaccaro) cares only about gaming, and his sole friends are online. What he has in abundance are fears: of allergies, the outdoors, and other people. When Marco’s grandfather moves in for the summer, “Nonno” decides to teach his “robot” grandson how to live. A recent widower, Nonno finds solace at the bocce courts and in the camaraderie of his teammates: a collection of chuckling, cigar-chomping paisans straight out of central casting. Nonno challenges Marco to learn bocce and make friends, telling him: “Bocce is like life. It’s not about thinking. You have to feel.” Marco resists, but his inevitable awakening is genuinely moving as he rises to the challenge, forms a team, and tries to beat the old man at his own game. (Mill Valley Film Festival)