The next entry in our series of writers recommending their favourite comfort films is a tribute to Jonathan Demme’s zesty gangster comedy

There’s no more perfect song to open a movie than Rosemary Clooney’s Mambo Italiano in Jonathan Demme’s Married to the Mob. It’s a delightful nonsense song that mimics Cuban mambo music while spilling out lyrics that are about as authentically Italian as a suburban Olive Garden. It’s Demme’s way of announcing that his gangster comedy will be a zesty, multicultural puttanesca that may evoke The Godfather and other genre standards, but mostly indulges in the cartoon kitsch of Long Island goombahs. The film that follows isn’t quite a parody, a spoof or a satire. It’s merely an unmitigated joy from start to finish.

There are so many fun touches around the edges of Married to the Mob – the colorful production design,...