Mighty Fine Reviews
noah r.
June 16, 2012
I loved it and the new york times/ the new york post were right it is a great movie and anyone that say otherwise dose not is not a critic.
Greg M.
May 30, 2012
Mighty Fine is driven by Chazz Palminteri's powerful performance as Joe Fine, the loving but troubled father who can't control his inner demons. Chazz fills the screen with a combination of vitality and menace as he drags his family literally kicking and screaming in his single-minded pursuit of his dream. Andie McDowell pulls off a new type of role for her, as Stella, a Holocaust survivor "rescued" by Joe but later uprooted from Brooklyn to New Orleans, along with the couple's two teenage daughters. The kids give affecting performances too, especially Jodelle Ferland as Natalie, the aspiring poet through whose eyes the story unfolds. Director Debbie Goodstein is sure-handed in her feature film debut, bringing her own script to believable life. You'll laugh and tremble with Stella and the girls as they careen along with Joe toward a shattering day of reckoning.
May 24, 2012
We saw "Mighty Fine" today, and at the risk of sounding cliché - we laughed, we cried. Writer/director Debbie Goodstein touched on societal problems such as racism, sexism, the recession and outsourcing and the impact they have in impeding a family´s ability to heal and break dysfunctional habits. Yet Ms. Goodstein focused primarily on parental emotional abuse, keeping the plot from being overly ambitious. We loved the casting, the use of photos and super 8 family films, the narration, the music,and the '70s costumes. Chazz Palminteri was amazing and we loved that the ending wasn't a typical Hollywood ending. Rainey Qualle, Andie Mac Dowell's daughter definitely exceeded our expectations in her debut. One of the most heartfelt scenes was her interaction with her dad (Palminteri) after he humiliated her in front of the new friends she was forced to make after he abruptly uprooted the family. We ranged in age from 13 to 65 and the film appealed to all ages. We're mighty glad we saw this film.
May 28, 2012
I saw Mighty Fine as a pre-screening and I enjoyed watching the movie because it gave a real and raw look into the life of a family dealing with emotional instability and anger. I think this movie was compelling and well-written and Chazz Palminteri was amazing as the father. He captured the anger, insecurity and vulnerability of a man who has no self-control.
May 28, 2012
Joe Fine (Chazz Palminteri) moves his family from Brooklyn to a beautiful white house in New Orleans, where he owns a factory. However, he's taking a huge risk, as his business is unstable. His daughters, Maddie (Jodelle Ferland) and Natalie (Rainey Qualley), are worried they will not be accepted in their new home in the South, fearing anti-Semitism. But their biggest problem is the one they brought with them. While their father Joe is charming and generous, he's emotionally unstable, given to fits of rage. As his business deteriorates, so does his mental state, and he become a threat to himself and his family.
Not that Mighty Fine has that kind of elegant simplicity as a story, but instead is padded with subplots. The beloved family dog is aging and in ill health. Maddie enters a poetry contest, but writer's block gets the better of her. Natalie tries to win friends and find a boyfriend, but her father's demands and erratic behavior makes that impossible. The anti-Semitism angle doesn't peak the way it should, and there's a subplot about Joe's involvement with loan sharks that doesn't resolve.
Mighty Fine is painful to look at. In an age of high-definition, digital cameras, this film is a throwback. The film was shot on a Super 16mm camera, and then blown up to 35mm in post production. This can look fine in other films, but here, edges are blurry, and colors are dull. It's shot largely in close-ups, and there isn't much coverage, making it look like an ABC after school special. This film simply does not merit a theatrical release.
Through this blurry lens, we watch the Fine family doing a lot of sitting and lying down. There are several scenes of Natalie writing in her journal or working on her poem. In other words, the direction is overall leaden and predictable, and newcomer Qualley, while attractive, is particularly wooden. However, the fault lies with Debbie Goodstein, who directs her first feature narrative film. The script by Goodstein herself--based on her own life--is melodramatic. There is no subtext in Mighty Fine. There is just text. It's in bold, and underlined. "You're ruining my life!" Natalie screams, "Just shoot me!" We know what characters are thinking because they tell us they're thinking. A voice-over narration, read by a flat, nasal Janeane Garofalo as Maddie in her later years, continues well past its welcome. The characters are predictable, making for a story without surprises. Joe does what Joe does, and more of it as the film goes along.
Mighty Fine feels like a novel adaption, and would have worked better in that medium. It's largely about what Maddie thinks and feels about what's going on; she's merely a narrator, and doesn't do anything. It's a mistake to have these kinds of characters, because in film, the camera is the narrator; it shows us what we need to see and how we see it. Having a narrator character is redundant. Ultimately, the film is about Joe, but his problems are internal--the stuff of short stories and novels. I was never moved by Mighty Fine, and while I didn't hate it, my sympathy for the characters' plight wore off before the credits rolled.
Watching Mighty Fine is like watching someone else's old home movies. It looks amateurish, and while it documents events that were important to them, that doesn't mean we feel the same way.
Joe Fine (Chazz Palminteri) moves his family from Brooklyn to a beautiful white house in New Orleans, where he owns a factory. However, he's taking a huge risk, as his business is unstable. His daughters, Maddie (Jodelle Ferland) and Natalie (Rainey Qualley), are worried they will not be accepted in their new home in the South, fearing anti-Semitism. But their biggest problem is the one they brought with them. While their father Joe is charming and generous, he's emotionally unstable, given to fits of rage. As his business deteriorates, so does his mental state, and he become a threat to himself and his family.
Not that Mighty Fine has that kind of elegant simplicity as a story, but instead is padded with subplots. The beloved family dog is aging and in ill health. Maddie enters a poetry contest, but writer's block gets the better of her. Natalie tries to win friends and find a boyfriend, but her father's demands and erratic behavior makes that impossible. The anti-Semitism angle doesn't peak the way it should, and there's a subplot about Joe's involvement with loan sharks that doesn't resolve.
Mighty Fine is painful to look at. In an age of high-definition, digital cameras, this film is a throwback. The film was shot on a Super 16mm camera, and then blown up to 35mm in post production. This can look fine in other films, but here, edges are blurry, and colors are dull. It's shot largely in close-ups, and there isn't much coverage, making it look like an ABC after school special. This film simply does not merit a theatrical release.
Through this blurry lens, we watch the Fine family doing a lot of sitting and lying down. There are several scenes of Natalie writing in her journal or working on her poem. In other words, the direction is overall leaden and predictable, and newcomer Qualley, while attractive, is particularly wooden. However, the fault lies with Debbie Goodstein, who directs her first feature narrative film. The script by Goodstein herself--based on her own life--is melodramatic. There is no subtext in Mighty Fine. There is just text. It's in bold, and underlined. "You're ruining my life!" Natalie screams, "Just shoot me!" We know what characters are thinking because they tell us they're thinking. A voice-over narration, read by a flat, nasal Janeane Garofalo as Maddie in her later years, continues well past its welcome. The characters are predictable, making for a story without surprises. Joe does what Joe does, and more of it as the film goes along.
Mighty Fine feels like a novel adaption, and would have worked better in that medium. It's largely about what Maddie thinks and feels about what's going on; she's merely a narrator, and doesn't do anything. It's a mistake to have these kinds of characters, because in film, the camera is the narrator; it shows us what we need to see and how we see it. Having a narrator character is redundant. Ultimately, the film is about Joe, but his problems are internal--the stuff of short stories and novels. I was never moved by Mighty Fine, and while I didn't hate it, my sympathy for the characters' plight wore off before the credits rolled.
May 26, 2012
I enjoyed this movie and the optimistic ending. I think Rainey did a great job in her film debut.
Annie
May 26, 2012
I recognize it. So did most of the people in the audience with me.
Chasing cheap labor and tax incentives of the '70s South in a last ditch effort to save his wheezing garment biz, Joe Fine, a bi-polar tough guy, abuser/lover moves his New York Jewish family to Louisiana and all hell, mostly private, breaks loose. From the opening scene, a trippy, grimly funny, claustrophobic car ride from Brooklyn to the bayou, director Debbie Goodstein captures the dangerous thrill ride that's life with an undiagnosed, smooth-talking, delusional manic-depressive.
Chazz Palminteri's Joe bribes and browbeats his Holocaust survivor wife (Andie MacDowell) who, despite her fragility, willfully hangs onto the illusion of the good husband and father. The elder of Joe's two adolescent daughters (Rainey Qualley), sick of both parents' pathology, lets loose a rebel yell you can hear from New Orleans to New York City. The younger daughter (Jodelle Ferland), unripe, scared and quietly brazen, agonizes over the truth and puts it in writing.
Mighty Fine is also a woman's film, a dar comedy. It's written, directed, produced by a woman; told from a womanâ(TM)s point of view, set in a household dominated by a man but densely inhabited by females. Leaves me wondering how come that so far, there's not one woman reviewer to add a XX perspective to this flawed but intimate and honest film?
I've read the critics and wonder if most of the men having at Mighty Fine noticed that it isn't for little boys. This is how it is when a woman, damaged by her own history, depends on and covers for a man whose rages terrify, whose calculating generosity dazzles, and whose lies and failures turn the ground to quicksand. This is the story of what that collusion does to a family.
I recognize it. So did most of the people in the audience with me.
Chasing cheap labor and tax incentives of the '70s South in a last ditch effort to save his wheezing garment biz, Joe Fine, a bi-polar tough guy, abuser/lover moves his New York Jewish family to Louisiana and all hell, mostly private, breaks loose. From the opening scene, a trippy, grimly funny, claustrophobic car ride from Brooklyn to the bayou, director Debbie Goodstein captures the dangerous thrill ride that's life with an undiagnosed, smooth-talking, delusional manic-depressive.
Chazz Palminteri's Joe bribes and browbeats his Holocaust survivor wife (Andie MacDowell) who, despite her fragility, willfully hangs onto the illusion of the good husband and father. The elder of Joe's two adolescent daughters (Rainey Qualley), sick of both parents' pathology, lets loose a rebel yell you can hear from New Orleans to New York City. The younger daughter (Jodelle Ferland), unripe, scared and quietly brazen, agonizes over the truth and puts it in writing.
Mighty Fine is also a woman's film, a dar comedy. It's written, directed, produced by a woman; told from a womanâ(TM)s point of view, set in a household dominated by a man but densely inhabited by females. Leaves me wondering how come that so far, there's not one woman reviewer to add a XX perspective to this flawed but intimate and honest film?
Brooklyn Mom
May 25, 2012
I am actually going to recommend this movie to my book club. I bet the discussion afterwards is going to be kick ass because I think this issue has touched so many of us at one time or another. A strong recommend.
This movie really struck a chord with me. I don't think I've ever seen a movie that deals with male rage and anger as honestly (and fairly) at this one. The fact that Chazz makes this guy sympathetic is a testimony to his acting chops. The director got solid performances out of all of her actors but Chazz and the youngest daughter were especially strong. Is it a coincidence that the reviewers who didn't like this movie are men and that reviewers who DID like it are women? Just asking.
I am actually going to recommend this movie to my book club. I bet the discussion afterwards is going to be kick ass because I think this issue has touched so many of us at one time or another. A strong recommend.
Diva Locks
May 25, 2012
The film tells the story of family who relocates from the big city of New York to the southern town of New Orleans. Joe, the father is a charming, larger-than-life character who wants to be Super Dad to his two daughters. Stella, the mother is a holocaust survivor who spends her days trying to make Joe happy. The daughters 16 year old Maddie is at the point in her life where she is starting to think for herself and seek friendships outside of the family. Natalie the younger sister always stays optimistic and tries to see the good side of people even when theyâ(TM)re not at their best. Everything seems normal and fine to the outside world but every family has secrets and Joeâ(TM)s anger and outbursts may threaten everything.
May 24, 2012
It has some really amusing parts, some quite shocking and overall very dramatic. I would personally suggest going to see the opening!
I was given the opportunity to see a live screening. I personally loved this movie and thought it had a lot of depth to it. The good intentions of a Father who overreaches and loses himself in the struggle, the Mother who tries too hard to make everything seem 'fine' and the daughters who are lost in the embrace of their father's overwhelming love and madness.
It has some really amusing parts, some quite shocking and overall very dramatic. I would personally suggest going to see the opening!
Paula K.
May 24, 2012
Just like the tiny mirrors on a disco ball, the movie "Mighty Fine" shows us the many different facets of a family, especially when that family is dealing with Joe Fine, portrayed by Chazz Palminteri. In a live chat after a recent online preview of the film, Palminteri called Joe Fine a "paradox," a man who vacillated between angry rages and being the benevolent charmer who tried to keep everyone happy.
When the Fine family, consisting of dad Joseph, mom Stella, (who spent time in hiding as a child during the Holocaust); 17-year-old Maddie, and younger sister Natalie pull up stakes and move to Louisiana in 1974, we learn that the women of the family hope this move will dilute Joe's tendencies to angry rages. The deterioration of the financing for Joe's business, though, revives the rage monster and it wakes up hungrier than ever.
Stepping away from the heavy topic for a moment, I have to share the fun and retro-themed joy of all the 70's paraphernalia in this film. (I was 10 in 1974, the year in which the film is set.) Since there was a live chat occurring among all of the participant bloggers when we watched the film online, it was amusing to hear reactions ranging from, "Oh My God people once smoked inside houses!" to "Oh yeah, I can remember when we had to dial the phone using that rotary dial."
Back to the film's "heavy topic." It was sobering to hear all of the experiences with emotional abuse that the participant bloggers shared. Women whose mothers made courageous decisions to leave everything behind in order to get out of abusive situations; women who had been victims of abuse themselves; women who hypothesized that in 2012 Joe Fine would have had access to a mental health professional who would do a whole lot more than his family physician, who Joe convinced that the only problem was a bit of business stress.
Natalie Fine recites a poem at the end of the movie. A line from that poem stayed with me after I watched the film, as I tried to decide what to focus on for this blog. Here's the line:
"There's a monster in dad, and it makes him wicked mad."
When asked about emotionally abusive parents such as Joe, Chazz Palminteri said that every parent needs to remember: "You are a mirror."
What did Maddie see in the mirror of her mother when she tried to placate Joseph? What did both girls see when Stella made her final decision?
I hope you will consider finding out how everything ended by going to see Mighty Fine when it is released on May 25.
In the movie Mighty Fine, Joe Fine instructs the movers from Exodus Moving Company to be very careful with his disco ball when his family is relocating from Brooklyn, NY, to New Orleans, LA. I guess having a personal disco ball was a status symbol in 1974!
Just like the tiny mirrors on a disco ball, the movie "Mighty Fine" shows us the many different facets of a family, especially when that family is dealing with Joe Fine, portrayed by Chazz Palminteri. In a live chat after a recent online preview of the film, Palminteri called Joe Fine a "paradox," a man who vacillated between angry rages and being the benevolent charmer who tried to keep everyone happy.
When the Fine family, consisting of dad Joseph, mom Stella, (who spent time in hiding as a child during the Holocaust); 17-year-old Maddie, and younger sister Natalie pull up stakes and move to Louisiana in 1974, we learn that the women of the family hope this move will dilute Joe's tendencies to angry rages. The deterioration of the financing for Joe's business, though, revives the rage monster and it wakes up hungrier than ever.
Stepping away from the heavy topic for a moment, I have to share the fun and retro-themed joy of all the 70's paraphernalia in this film. (I was 10 in 1974, the year in which the film is set.) Since there was a live chat occurring among all of the participant bloggers when we watched the film online, it was amusing to hear reactions ranging from, "Oh My God people once smoked inside houses!" to "Oh yeah, I can remember when we had to dial the phone using that rotary dial."
Back to the film's "heavy topic." It was sobering to hear all of the experiences with emotional abuse that the participant bloggers shared. Women whose mothers made courageous decisions to leave everything behind in order to get out of abusive situations; women who had been victims of abuse themselves; women who hypothesized that in 2012 Joe Fine would have had access to a mental health professional who would do a whole lot more than his family physician, who Joe convinced that the only problem was a bit of business stress.
Natalie Fine recites a poem at the end of the movie. A line from that poem stayed with me after I watched the film, as I tried to decide what to focus on for this blog. Here's the line:
"There's a monster in dad, and it makes him wicked mad."
When asked about emotionally abusive parents such as Joe, Chazz Palminteri said that every parent needs to remember: "You are a mirror."
What did Maddie see in the mirror of her mother when she tried to placate Joseph? What did both girls see when Stella made her final decision?
I hope you will consider finding out how everything ended by going to see Mighty Fine when it is released on May 25.
May 24, 2012
Andy McDowell is a tramp. An aging tramp who can only sell cosmetics to other aging tramps.
May 24, 2012
I recently had the opportunity to see a movie premier online. I must say that the experience really was, well very nice. The movie itself was very good. Not one that I would normally go to, I tend to go to movies for escapism like Avengers and Battleship. But this movie proved me wrong. The subject matter is one that hits quite close to home, thankfully not exactly but close enough. The dad, Joe played by Chazz Palminteri is a buisness owner who moves his family down south to New Orleans. The rest of the family Stella, Andie MacDowell, the mom and the daughters Natalie, Jodelle Ferland, and Maddie, Rainey Qualley are along for the ride. But things are not going so well, and Joe's old anger management problems surface again.
May 24, 2012
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 fatherâ(TM)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 Joeâ(TM)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.
The movie is loosely based on writer/director Debbie Goodsteinâ(TM)s childhood experiences with her family, so itâ(TM)s kind of based on actual events. Joe Fine (who is Chazz Palminteriâ(TM)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 husbandâ(TM)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 fatherâ(TM)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 Joeâ(TM)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.
May 24, 2012
Right off the bat I suspected that something was off financially seeing as Joe set up his family in a huge mansion and was throwing money around left and right. Viewers are given a glimpse into his business problems but Joe just keeps on spending. Financial trouble causes Joe to act out and the anger and emotional abuse escalate as money gets tighter and tighter. He swings from buying people extravagant gifts to screaming and throwing tantrums. His oldest daughter is the rebel of the family and really seems to suffer the worst of his emotional fits. The youngest just seems to bury her head in her schoolwork and try to hide. I got frustrated with how Stella just let him walk all over them but tried to remember that her own personal history and the year the movie is set in really require her character act submissively.
I could really relate to this movie...I remember quite a bit of yelling in my house growing up. Nowhere near as extreme as in this movie but it still left quite an impression on me. I still hate conflict and tend to be the peacemaker whenever an argument pops up!
Mighty Fine is a moving portrayal of what unresolved anger management issues can do to a family. This is a serious topic and I think that the 'R' rating is definitely appropriate. Due to the serious nature of the storyline and some harsh language I would recommend only seeing this with older teens or adults.
Mighty Fine follows a family in the 1970's as they move from their home in Brooklyn to New Orleans. The father, Joe, played by Chazz Palminteri, is moving his garment industry down south to be closer to the factory that produces his company's clothing line. His wife Stella (Andie MacDowell) and teenage daughter Natalie (Jodelle Ferland) are excited about the move but his older daughter Maddie (Rainey Qualley) is a high-school senior and has NO desire to make such a huge life change during her last year of school.
Right off the bat I suspected that something was off financially seeing as Joe set up his family in a huge mansion and was throwing money around left and right. Viewers are given a glimpse into his business problems but Joe just keeps on spending. Financial trouble causes Joe to act out and the anger and emotional abuse escalate as money gets tighter and tighter. He swings from buying people extravagant gifts to screaming and throwing tantrums. His oldest daughter is the rebel of the family and really seems to suffer the worst of his emotional fits. The youngest just seems to bury her head in her schoolwork and try to hide. I got frustrated with how Stella just let him walk all over them but tried to remember that her own personal history and the year the movie is set in really require her character act submissively.
I could really relate to this movie...I remember quite a bit of yelling in my house growing up. Nowhere near as extreme as in this movie but it still left quite an impression on me. I still hate conflict and tend to be the peacemaker whenever an argument pops up!
Mighty Fine is a moving portrayal of what unresolved anger management issues can do to a family. This is a serious topic and I think that the 'R' rating is definitely appropriate. Due to the serious nature of the storyline and some harsh language I would recommend only seeing this with older teens or adults.
May 24, 2012
I would definitely recommend the film, Mighty Fine, to anyone who wants to learn more about the commonly hidden world of emotional abuse. This movie is raw, honest, and to the point. It doesn't sugar-coat anything. My only wish? That my own experiences weren't so much worse than the depictions in the movie. It brought to light how sadistic and truly abnormal my own experience has been, and that left me in tears. Emotional abuse is an issue that NEEDS to be addressed, and Mighty Fine is a great start and a wonderful ice-breaker.
I recently got the opportunity to watch the brand new movie, Mighty Fine, starring Andie MacDowell and Chazz Palminteri, one of my favorite actors, by the way. I convinced myself that despite this movie's sensitive subject matter, I would be able to maintain composure. I told myself that no matter what I saw, I wouldn't allow my emotions get the best of me. I couldn't have been more wrong. This movie was powerful, moving, and incredibly hard to watch, especially for a survivor of domestic violence.
I would definitely recommend the film, Mighty Fine, to anyone who wants to learn more about the commonly hidden world of emotional abuse. This movie is raw, honest, and to the point. It doesn't sugar-coat anything. My only wish? That my own experiences weren't so much worse than the depictions in the movie. It brought to light how sadistic and truly abnormal my own experience has been, and that left me in tears. Emotional abuse is an issue that NEEDS to be addressed, and Mighty Fine is a great start and a wonderful ice-breaker.
May 23, 2012
I saw a sneak peak screening of Mighty Fine and it was a touching, emotional film. I really enjoyed it and will be taking my daughter to see it when it opens in theaters! It's incredibly well acted and portrays a family struggling with mental illness perfectly.
