Mafia Boss Becomes My Pet
starring: NICOLE MATTOX & MARK VEGA
Veterinarian Brooke Snyder saves the life of mafia boss Silas Voss after he’s shot, using her canine medical skills to remove the bullet before disappearing. Unable to find her, Silas searches the city, convinced she might have been an angel…
REVIEW
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Finally someone has pushed the envelope for verts and gone all out and made a comedy. This is such a breath of fresh air.
And one of the things I love is that the two leads are perhaps not the most obvious choices when casting a comedy.
We all know Nicole Mattox is a queen, brilliant at bringing the emotion and righteous anger. Well it turns out she is also an excellent straight man and the heart of this show as all the crazy happens around her. Then makes you want to cry when she sees Silas through the glass at the police station. Is there anything Nicole Mattox can't do? Genuine question. In awe of her talent.
And all the awards need to go to Mark Vega because the costume department put him through it. The chest rug, the crop t-shirt, layering on ever more ridiculous chains and necklaces, the 🧸 outfit, 🍕 pants and perhaps worst of all that beige shirt and trousers training combo. And he still looks good and makes us connect with Silas. Then when he picks up Brooke and carries her off over his shoulder. Swoon.
The whole thing is a hoot. Love the dynamics between Mark Vega and his deputies William - Tate Charles Doppler - and Mark Valeriano. How they got through the scar scene with straight faces I do not know. I could watch so many more scenes with these 3 characters just riffing off each other.
The tampon purchase scene is one of the finest things ever shown on a vert.
We have Nicole Mattox delivering what has to be a contender for one liner of the year.
Cameron Porras manages to make a character called Nigel (Nigel!) a great second male lead. And is mega helpful at the end.
I do like that there are consequences to the life of crime, even if they do have prison rather sewn up.
If I am being niggly sometimes it doesn't quite flow and feels more like a series of sketches than a story, and would have liked a bit more romance early on.
But overall you have to hand it to everyone involved here, for going all out to make a top notch comedy vertical and something fresh, new and original. Thank you… More please.
💖 Top swoonworthy moment:
I did like the reverse towel drop scene, when Silas covers Brooke with a towel, clever.
But I think it is when Silas puts that teddy bear costume on - the proposal, making hearts outside the vet surgery, and buying all the things for the proposal because he didn’t know what one she would like.
🦹🏼♂️ Top villain award:
Well I have to go for Amanda. Yes she is awful to Silas. But making someone pick all the seeds out of a dragonfruit. One of the most evil deeds ever seen on screen in a vert 😂
😂 Comedy gold:
So many… I have ranked my absolute favourites:
The tampon purchase face off. Comedy perfection
The who has the most scars competition. Amazing job doing all this with straight faces team
The team analysis of Silas’s texts. Particularly enjoyed the use of pointers
And one liner of the year “You killed Meryl Cheep!”.
🎺 Unsung hero:
Firstly every cast member for the total lack of vanity and willingness to embrace silliness and crazy costumes.
Then whoever found all the terrifying underpants. Top work.
William / Tate Doppler. He goes above and beyond, but seals the win with the immortal line “You should know who Brooke is by now. Did you not read the updated handbook?” Finally someone has a staff handbook! Much needed across all of Vertland.
✍🏼 DETAILS
Director Yanping Diao | 2025
Available on Gingerbread Man Pictures Co.
