Domestic violence takes on a variety of forms: physical violence, emotional abuse, monetary control.
No one way is worse than the other, and quite often, you’ll hear victims say that the emotional abuse is far more damaging than the physical violence.
Mighty Fine, a movie written and directed by Debbie Goodstein, touches on that emotional abuse.
Based on Debbie’s life, Mighty Fine chronicles the Fine family’s life.
Mr. Fine {Chazz Palminteri – yes, Sonny} moves his family from Brooklyn to New Orleans to be closer to his factory.
He showers his wife {Andie MacDowell} and two daughters {Jodelle Ferland and Rainey Qualley} with an extravagant home, nice cars, and other expensive gifts, but you soon realize something’s not quite right behind the scenes.
Mr. Fine has an anger management issue {to put it lightly}, and any little thing can set him off.
The movie takes you through the family’s life as they deal with their move and the way their husband and father acts.
I won’t give anything else away, you’ll just have to watch the movie when it comes out on May 25th {you can find out if it’s playing near you here}.
You can check out the trailer below.
MY THOUGHTS
I grew up with domestic violence around me. It spanned the spectrum; I saw it all.
This is the reason I wanted to review this film. I was thrilled that someone had done a movie based on family experiences with domestic violence.
I did come away feeling a little like the movie skipped around a bit too much and that it was a little too Hallmark for my tastes.
It seemed that every time the father got upset, the situation was easily diffused. This was never my experience growing up. The situations weren’t easily quieted in mere minutes.
Also, the end of the movie seemed rather abrupt and unrealistic. I won’t go into details because that would give it away, but it’s just never been my experience that things are resolved in that manner.
All that said, I really had a hard time feeling like this because the movie was based on the writer’s life. I mean, if that’s what she experienced, who am I to say it’s not right, you know?
Either way, the movie can get a dialogue going about domestic violence, and that’s what is most important.
The movie is rated “R”, mainly for language. If the “F” word bothers you, you might have a hard time watching this movie.
I’m not a fan of gratuitous anything in movies, but I do think it is appropriate in this situation. Domestic violence isn’t pretty, after all…
All-in-all, I’m glad I was part of this experience. It was fun chatting online with the actors after the online screening {I’m not terribly swayed by celebrity, but I totally had a fangirl moment and took a screenshot of the chat with Chazz Palminteri…}, and great being a part of something that was more than just making a film to make money.
True Confessions: I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Mighty Fine and the distributor. I received access to an online showing of the film and a promotional item to thank me for participating.
