''Mighty Fine'' is a 2012 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by Debbie Goodstein-Rosenfeld,Rotten Tomatoes
/ref> starring

Chazz Palminteri Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri (born May 15, 1952)
. Chazzpalminteri.net. Retrieved on November 19, 2013. is an America ...

Andie MacDowell Rosalie Anderson MacDowell (born April 21, 1958) is an American actress and former fashion model. MacDowell is known for her starring film roles in romantic comedies and dramas. She has modeled for Calvin Klein and has been a spokeswoman for ...

Jodelle Ferland Jodelle Micah Ferland (born October 9, 1994) is a Canadian actress. She debuted as a child actress at the age of six in the television film ''Mermaid'' (2000) for which she won a Young Artist Award and received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination, ...

, and

Rainey Qualley Rainsford Dubose Qualley ( ; born March 11, 1989) is an American actress and singer. A daughter of actress Andie MacDowell and the sister of actress Margaret Qualley, she made her acting debut in the 2012 film '' Mighty Fine''. She is best know ...

. It was given a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in the United States on May 25, 2012, by Adopt Films.

Synopsis

In 1974, Joe Fine, a

Jewish-American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are Americans, American citizens who are Jews, Jewish, whether by Jewish culture, culture, ethnicity, or Judaism, religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of Am ...

businessman from

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, moves his wife Stella and his two daughters, Natalie and Maddie to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, where he has relocated his textile factory, in order to try to save it due to the decline of the textile industry. The cost of living is lower in the South and he can avoid travel, but he proceeds to live beyond his means including large extravagances. When a big investor decides to pull out of the deal, he takes a loan from the local mob. Joe has always suffered from anger management issues, but now stress is leading to depression and emotionally lashing out at his wife and daughters. He sees a psychologist upon his wife's urging, but he assures him that he is fine and his wife must be unduly concerned, because she is a Holocaust survivor. However, after he attempts to commit suicide, his wife pushes the panic button that Joe himself had installed, the police come and send him to a psychiatric hospital to deal with his anxiety disorder. Meanwhile, his younger daughter Natalie, who is the narrator of the story and suffers from a fear of public speaking, slowly learns to move on, and wins a US$500-poetry competition sponsored by the

Campbell Soup Company The Campbell's Company (doing business as Campbell's and formerly known as the Campbell Soup Company) is an American company, most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products. The classic red-and-white can design used by many Campbe ...

. Eventually, she sees her father again when he has recovered from stress.

Cast

Critical reception

The film received a rating of 18% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

. ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' gave a scathing review, suggesting it stood "a slim chance of carving out much of a niche from an anticipated

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

weekend limited release." The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' published a similarly bad review, commenting that Andie MacDowell seemed "so constricted by her awkward Polish accent and timid persona that she tends to disappear in front of us."

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' gave the film a positive review, writing, calling it an "incisive portrait of an insecure, manic-depressive tyrant that Mr. Palminteri makes entirely believable."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1675313 2012 films 2012 comedy-drama films 2012 independent films 2010s English-language films American comedy-drama films American independent films Films about dysfunctional families Films about Jews and Judaism Films set in 1974 Films set in New Orleans Films shot in New Orleans 2010s American films English-language comedy-drama films English-language independent films