Thursday night I had the wonderful opportunity to screen the movie, Mighty Fine, before it comes to theaters on May 25, 2012. Not only that I was able to participate in a video chat with two of the movie’s stars, one of which was Chazz Palminteri (Bronx Tale). 

Mighty Fine is the story of the Fine family who move from Brooklyn to New Orleans so that the father, Joe Fine, can be closer to the business that he runs. Joe’s family – wife Stella (Andi McDowell), teenage daughter Maddie (Rainey Qualley) and pre-teen daughter Natalie (Jodelle Ferland) – are not very keen about the big move but feel like they don’t have a choice since Joe rules the family.

It’s clear from the start of the film that Joe does love his family very much, and wants only the best for them, but he does have issues that threaten to tear the family apart.

Joe lavishes his wife and daughters with a big house, boat and lavish gifts. He does not live within his means. When his business starts to go down hill Joe realizes that he’s in serious trouble. He finds that he has no choice but to take out a loan with the mob.

Between his teen daughter’s unhappiness with living in New Orleans, his business going downhill and the pressure to pay back the loan to the mob, Joe starts to fall apart.

Joe has anger issues and his anger rears its evil head on several occasions, even going so far as chase his teen daughter with a car that he bought her for her birthday.

Joe has a bi-polar personality. One moment he can be kind and loving and the next moment he can get very volatile.

No one in the house is happy, not even Joe’s youngest daughter. Both girls look to their mother to protect them from their father’s anger, but their mother is equally as frightened of Joe.

Will this family ever find a way of coming together, or will a tragic event threaten to rip the family apart? To find out you’ll need to go and see Might Fine which will be playing in select theaters across the country.

Here is the fim’s trailer.

This film had some “pros’ and “cons”.

PROS:

-   Rainey Qualley (Andi McDowell’s real life daughter) did an amazing job, especially since this was her first acting gig.

-   Chazz Palminteri was very convincing as Joe Fine who suffered from being bi-polar and with serious anger issues.

-   The film was filled with emotion. The actors did an amazing job with their characters. You could truly feel their pain.

-   The Fine family had issues that many families across the country deal with on a daily basis (bi-polar, anger issues, money problems, fitting in, teen angst…). The story line has bits and pieces in it that many people will relate to.

CONS (or rather just one con):

-  I felt that the film ended too abruptly. I would like to have seen more of what happened to bring the family from where they were to how they are when the film ended. It seems like there were a lot of gaps and unanswered questions.

If you would like to learn more about the film, or find a theater near you where the film will be shown, visit MightyFine-theMovie.com/Theaters.html. For more information about the film it’s self visit MightyFine-theMovie.com.

I have attended movie screenings in the past, however this screening was unlike any other that I have participated in before. After we saw the film we had the opportunity to chat with a couple of the cast members via video chat.  

We first had the chance to ask questions of Rainey Qualley.

Here are some interesting things we learned from chatting with Rainey and asking her questions.

-   This is her first movie. Her mom, Chazz Palminteri and Jodelle Ferland gave her a lot of points. Even though Jodelle is younger then Rainey she has appeared in several films already including the Twilight series (she portrayed Bree Tanner).

-   Rainey’s boyfriend in the film, Mighty Fine, is her boyfriend in real life. They started dating when they were shooting the film.

-   She loves to write music and wrote and sang the song in the film, Silver Lining.

-   Rainey hopes that this film will encourage people to get help if they experience anger issues or know someone who suffers from being bi-polar.

FYI… Rainey is a beautiful young lady. She’s just as lovely as her mother Andi.

I was super excited to video chat with Chazz Palminteri. I LOVE the movie Bronx Tale. It’s one of my favorite films. We were even going to name our son Cologero after one of the characters in the film.

Here is what I learned from our cat with Chazz.

-   Chazz finds new technology very interesting (referring to video chatting with those of us who just watched the film).

-   Chazz was asked how he was able to portray such a “monster”. Chazz said that he did a lot of research for the role, speaking with people who suffer from bi-polar and rage issues. His friend’s father also had the same issues, so he was able to draw upon those experiences as well. Chazz refers to himself as a “method actor”.

-   He enjoyed working with the entire cast.

-   The film was shot around New Orleans. He said it was very hot when they were there and that there are still areas of New Orleans that never recovered from Hurricane Katrina.

-   Someone asked Chazz if he would tackle a similar role again. He said he would as long as the script was good.

-   Chazz said it was a bit hard for him to portray such a mean father. He has children and it was hard for him to do. He also said that he had a wonderful childhood and great parents. On a personal level he couldn’t relate to his character in the film. His character was opposite of what he’s like in real life. His father was like the character of Lorenzo in the film Bronx Tale.

-  Chazz feels that what contributed to Joe Fine’s downfall was money problems, his big ego and the need for big things.

-  The cast and crew worked an average of 12 hours per day on the film. He also loved that it was set in the 70′s because he loves the classic cars.

-   Chazz was asked what his favorite films are and he replied Bronx Tale, Unusual Suspects and Bullets Over Broadway.

-   He doesn’t prefer movies over TV (or vice versa). All he cares about is a great script. 

-  His favorite scene in the film was being in bed with Andi McDowell (there is no nudity or sex scenes – I think he said this as a joke).

-   The message that Chazz wants people to get from this film is that back in the 70′s (the era in the film) having a mental illness was no acceptable and it was something that people didn’t want to talk about and families tried to cover up. He said that these days it’s more acceptable and there are plenty of things people can do to get heal such as seek therapy or in some cases medication. He said mental illness is more acceptable now and there is a lot that that can be done to help people out. Chazz also wants people to see that how you treat your spouse will mirror to your children. If you are cruel and abusive to your spouse and your child/children see that they are most likely either going to end up in abusive relationships or abuse their spouse.

I really enjoyed chatting with Chazz and Rainey. I wish all screenings gave you the opportunity to have a Q & A with cast members. I think that takes the movie screen experience to a whole new level.

Look for Mighty Fine in theaters May 25, 2012.

Kimberly

 *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.

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