Review of Mighty Fine (2012) by Greg M — 29 May 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.