The Amy Fisher Story

"The Amy Fisher Story" is a 1993 American television film directed by Andy Tennant with Drew Barrymore in the lead role of the teenager Amy Fisher, who had an affair with the mechanic Joey Buttafuoco (Tony Denison) in Long Island. She has a crush on Joey and decides to kill his wife, shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco (Laurie Paton). The well-known story was released in Brazil in VHS, but the screenplay is confused. For example, the prostitution of Amy Fisher is slightly shown in the movie and is not clear that Joey Buttafuoco suggested her to prostitute to get money. Amy Fisher is depicted as a spoiled and promiscuous teenager. Drew Barrymore is the only thing worthwhile watching in this forgettable film. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "Amy Fisher, a Ninfeta Assassina" ("Amy Fisher, The Killer Nymphet")

Yesterday my friend convinced me to go to White Hen. I agreed, and I'm glad I did because if i wasn't there at the right time, I never would have purchased this film that I have been searching for years for and was very cheap. I was surprised to find this obscure movie at White Hen. This was a movie that Drew Barrymore starred in at the lowest point in her career (go to her page and you will see what I mean.)

Drew Barrymore nailed the accent of the "Long Island Lolita", Amy Fisher, the seductive and troubled teen who was sexually abused as a child and falls in love with Joseph "Joey" Buttafuoco and seduces him into a sexual relationship after meeting him by crashing her car, and crashing it over and over and over again as an excuse to see him. She becomes obsessed with him, and while she respects his wife and the fact that he has a happy family, decides to attempt and kill his wife so she can be with him.

Drew Barrymore's incredible performance makes you sympathize with Amy, and makes you wonder if she had had a normal life and hadn't felt so trapped in her house her whole life, maybe she wouldn't be so screwed up. Awesome script, awesome movie, you can tell the director and writer put a ton of work into making it perfect, and look at how kickass Amy is today!

Amy Fisher had her fifteen minutes of fame as the "Long Island Lolita" who shot her lover's wife. So lurid a tale was this, that all three major networks rushed a television movie into production. Two of the movies even aired on the same night. Of the three movies, this is the finest.

Drew Barrymore, after her memorable roles as a child actor, but before her recent string of movies as an angel of purity, excelled at sluttiness. And sluttiness is the key attribute necessary to portray Ms. Fisher.

The story sticks close to the headlines, is enjoyably lurid and Drew Barrymore is excellent.

I recommend this movie to all fans of Drew Barrymore and to anyone wanting to see an enjoyable dramatization of Long Island's most infamous affair.

Amy Fisher, aka the "Long Island Lolita", was a seventeen-year-old girl who, in 1992, shot and severely wounded Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her thirty-something lover Joey Buttafuoco. Fisher was subsequently sentenced to seven years in prison. The media have always been prone to sensationalising crime stories, but this tendency seemed particularly pronounced in America during the early nineties, the age of O. J. Simpson, Lorena Bobbitt and the Menendez brothers. Amy therefore became an instant media celebrity and all three major US television networks rushed out dramatisations of her case. "The Amy Fisher Story" was ABC's contribution; the others were "Amy Fisher: My Story" (NBC) and "Casualties of Love: the Long Island Lolita Story" (CBS).

I cannot compare "The Amy Fisher Story" with "Casualties of Love", which I have never seen, and will not attempt a comparison with the NBC version (known in Britain as "Lethal Lolita") as I have not seen it since was first seen on British television about fifteen years ago. "The Amy Fisher Story" did, however, remind me of another TV movie from the early nineties, "Too Young to Die?" from three years earlier. Both films are, to some extent at least, based on true stories and both deal with a shooting carried out by a teenage girl. Both feature an outstanding performance from an up-and-coming young actress, Juliette Lewis in the earlier film and Drew Barrymore here. During their teenage years both Lewis and Barrymore seemed to specialise in "wild child" roles- Barrymore's best-known was probably in "Poison Ivy"- and in Barrymore's case there was plenty of speculation that these roles mirrored her off-screen antics. Here she is excellent as Amy- a wild, out-of-control young woman, at war with her strict parents (especially her father) and obsessed with her older lover.

Of the two films, "Too Young to Die?", which is several cuts above the average made-for-TV true crime drama, is the better. I think it gains by the decision to fictionalise the story on which it is based. It advertised itself not as the true story of the Attina Cannady case but rather as a fictional story loosely based on that case, which makes it easier for the film to raise some very pertinent questions about an important social issue, namely America's use of the death penalty. The acting is also of a higher standard in that film; apart from Barrymore's few contributions in "The Amy Fisher Story" stand out.

"The Amy Fisher Story" did, by contrast, advertise itself as a dramatisation of a true story, and like many such films, especially made-for-TV ones, is told in a drily factual style. It is not, moreover, even factually accurate in all particulars. After his wife's shooting, Joey Buttafuoco denied that there had ever been any sexual relationship between Amy and himself, claiming that she had grown desperate when he rejected her advances. The film, which was rushed out soon after the shooting, takes these denials at face value, presumably in order not to jeopardise Buttafuoco's pending trial for statutory rape, but soon afterwards he changed his plea to guilty and served several months in jail.

In many respects "The Amy Fisher Story" is no more than an average film, but I have given it an above-average mark for Barrymore's performance. 6/10

Based on the infamous true story that caused media hysteria in the 90s, a 16 years-old girl (Barrymore) from Long Island foolishly enters into a relationship with a 35 years-old married man, Joey Buttafuoco (Tony Denison), just a few miles from Jones Beach. A year later she confronts his wife at her doorstep (Laurie Paton), shooting her in the side of the head.

"The Amy Fisher Story" was released by ABC on January 3, 1993, just 7.5 months after the shooting. The CBS version was simultaneously aired while the NBC rendition beat both by six days, airing at the end of 1992. Let's compare the three:

The NBC version, "Amy Fisher: My Story," aka "Lethal Lolita," sticks to the bare facts with Amy narrating her experience from a jail cell. While it starts off too by-the-numbers, it becomes compelling in the second half with an outstanding depiction of the front door confrontation between Amy and Mary Jo. It features actors who most resemble their real-life counterparts. Moreover, arrogant Joey's reasoning to justify his unfaithful actions are superbly presented.

The CBS interpretation, "Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story," features Alyssa Milano in the role of Amy, but supports the Buttafuoco fiction that Joey never had sex with her, which he later admitted was false in light of the glaring evidence (e.g. Motel receipts). As such, "Casualties of Love" depicts Joe as an irresistible stud who's curiously stalked by an attractive girl that imagined their relationship, resulting in the shooting of Mary Jo.

This version by ABC has the star power of Drew Barrymore in the title role, only 17 years-old during filming. It's based on the chronicling of New York Post writer Amy Pagnozzi (Harley Jane Kozak).

Like "Amy Fisher: My Story," aka "Lethal Lolita," I didn't get the feeling that this version was unbalanced. Fisher's flaws and foolishness are plainly revealed. A semi-abusive relationship with her father and sexual abuse by an unnamed relative are hinted at as reasons for why she made such bad decisions.

No matter how you slice it, the near fatal shooting that scarred Mary Jo for life, split up two marriages and shattered two families by putting them through hell on earth can be traced to egotistical Joey's unwise seduction of an underaged girl and ongoing sexual relationship.

This version starts as a compelling coming-age-drama due to Drew's charisma & beauty and reveals more details about Amy's situation before meeting Joey. Unfortunately, it bogs down into mechanical storytelling by the second half with a way less effective depiction of the critical confrontation between Amy and Mary jo compared to "Amy Fisher: My Story," aka "Lethal Lolita." The latter movie is the exact opposite: It starts weak but ends strong.

If you're interested in the story and don't mind television productions, it's best to view both versions since each have their strengths & weaknesses. Disregard the more fictional version with Alyssa Milano unless, of course, you're an uber-fan of Ms. Milano.

The film runs 1 hours, 36 minutes, and was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia.

GRADE: C+