Mighty Fine

I recently had the opportunity to preview Mighty Fine which hits theaters on May 25th. I loved the movie and the powerful message that it portrays. I recommend it for everyone to see...It does however have strong language, but I guess that was necessary to go along with the father character, played by Chazz Palminteri. You will fall in love with Rainey Qualley, Andie MacDowell's real life daughter, in her debut as Maddie Fine. The movie will leave you emotionally raw as it opens your eyes to a behind the scenes look at emotional abuse. May be hard to watch for those who have experienced abuse in their own lives. Great cast, great movie!!

The movie is loosely based on writer/director Debbie Goodstein's childhood experiences with her family, so it's kind of based on actual events. Joe Fine (who is Chazz Palminteri's character) has a great sense of pride for himself and his family and that pride can take the turn for good and bad since he sometimes lashes out at his family. His wife, Stella (Played by Andie MacDowell who I also love) is constantly defending her husband's behavior since he is the provider for the family and it takes a tole on the children since they feel their Mother is kind of like a door mat since she acts like their father can do no wrong.

They have two children, two girls to be exact, named Maddie and Natalie. The oldest daughter is not afraid to speak her mind about her dislike for their father's behavior towards the family, while the younger daughter takes after her mother and constantly forgiving and defending him. The movie deals with the families struggle with their conflicting personalities and dealing with their relationship and bond as a family and the strain that Joe's personality and treatment of the family has on them. Chazz Palminteri is honestly amazing as this character and his performance truly makes the film shine.

Mighty Fine focuses on a Jewish-American family in the 1970's after they move from Brooklyn into a luxurious new home in New Orleans. The head of the family is Joe Fine, played by veteran actor and one of my favorite leading men Chazz Palminteri, accompanied by his wife Stella (Andie MacDowell), his oldest daughter Madie (Rainey Qualley), and his younger daughter Natalie (Jodelle Ferland). Joe and Stella are beyond excited for this new change - even Natalie, the young writer of the family holds some dearly strong optimism. The one who objects the most is Madie, who sees her father's allegedly kind gesture as an act of inexcusable selfishness as she had to drop everything, leave her friends, and now assimilate to a culture she doesn't remotely hold interest in.

Just when you think this takes over and becomes the facile plot-point of the film, the curve-ball is thrown. We see Joe's descent into madness, with stress at work boiling over his head, family disconnect, and bottled-up rage coming through like never before. He becomes verbally and physically abusive towards his wife and children, threatening violence, embellishing every little mistake, etc. All while Natalie captures her thoughts through diary entries.

Mighty Fine is a semi-autobiographical tale of writer/director Debbie Goodstein's childhood, which was surrounded by success with her writing and heartbreak with her father's mental instability. It's admirable to see that the film never seems to channel the lines of self-indulgence or self-satisfaction. It's surprisingly conducted on a small-scale and never seems overreaching. The film is so small-scale, at times, it feels like a TV pilot - a competent one, at that. We get to know the characters, we see their hardships, then when the credits finally role, we realize we wouldn't really mind seeing them again anytime soon.

However, at seventy-nine minutes, it feels as if Goldstein was handed the runtime prior to shooting and told to make a film that wouldn't go a minute over eighty. Mighty Fine seems to casually go about its runtime for the first forty to forty-five minutes, then rushes to include the plot-points of stress escalation, characters with mental states on the tipping point, suicidal thoughts, fights, etc in the last thirty minutes. The biggest problem is that this is all happening way too quickly, with certain little plot-strands being abandoned right after they're brought up.

Fortunately, Might Fine at least rebounds with its competence and gentle, well-articulated craft of storytelling and focus. The family is given a wide-range or interaction with each other, and Goldstein is essentially filming on an open range with several characters to look at, doing a fine job (or a mighty fine job) of giving them all their own time to shine. This is simple, genial fare, but it remains impressive given its lack of indulgence or mediocrity in tone.

Starring: Chazz Palminteri, Andie MacDowell, Rainey Qualley, and Jodelle Ferland. Directed by: Debbie Goldstein.

The pace of Mighty Fine unfolds beautifully. A family is shown driving from Brooklyn to New Orleans, playing word games and in various levels of excitement over their impending move. The patriarch, Chazz Palminteri, is moving to be closer to his business headquarters, and while his wife, Andie MacDowell, and his younger daughter, Jodelle Ferland, are happy, his older daughter, Rainey Qualley, isn't glad to leave all her friends before the start of her senior year. Chazz buys an exquisite mansion, and everything seems to be wonderful. He's constantly in a great mood, he takes his girls out for a ride on the boat, he encourages Jodelle when she practices playing pool, but the audience is waiting for the other shoe to drop. There's something in the air. Is Chazz going to lose his job? Is Andie going to get a cancer diagnosis? Something bad is going to happen, and when it finally does, it explains everything.

This is a very heavy, well-acted family drama. Don't pay attention to any synopses or trailers that try to pass it off as a Little Miss Sunshine road trip. Chazz plays a rage-a-holic who terrifies his family, and his performance is remarkable. He's completely happy and enthusiastic, then when something sets him off, he's quite literally out-of-control. Afterwards, he looks like he barely knows what's happened, and when the realization takes over, he's confused and sorry. The cycle continues, and as anyone who's been on the receiving end knows, it's impossible to relax around him.

Adding a touch of sweetness and more than a touch of realism to the cast is mother-daughter team Andie and Rainey-mother-daughter in real life! This is Rainey's film debut, and she wears her emotions on her sleeve in a way that doesn't show her inexperience. Andie puts on an accent in this movie-to make up for Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, perhaps?-and she shows the underlying strength every mother wishes to have. If you can handle it, this is a great movie to watch for the acting.

Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to upsetting scenes involving children, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

DLM warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. The opening credits are over a 'home movie' and use a shaky camera that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

I watched this movie as part of a special preview group of moms through MomCentral, and I was struck at how dark and dramatic it was.

I was expecting something lighter (as it was being screened to a group of moms) but was thrilled that it wasn't some 'feel good' movie. I prefer darker, intense movies and this delivered.

If you like indie movies that are edgy and dramatic - I think you'll enjoy this.

The plot centers around a family who appears perfect on the surface but is hiding a dark secret - I don't want to go into any more detail. But it's a great movie, although i wouldn't show it to my kids!