Mac (1992)

Niccolo (Mac) Vitelli is the eldest of three brothers and leads their family after their beloved father dies. Their father was a builder and his sons continue in this family trade. At first... See full summary »

Director:

John Turturro

Writers:

John Turturro, Brandon Cole

Stars:

Nicholas Turturro, Carl Capotorto, Michael Badalucco

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nicholas Turturro	...	Tony Gloves
Matthew Sussman	...	Clarence
Steven Randazzo	...	Gus
Ellen Barkin	...	Oona Goldfarb
Olek Krupa	...	Polowski
John Amos	...	Nat
Carl Capotorto	...	Bruno Vitelli
Michael Badalucco	...	Vico Vitelli
John Turturro	...	Niccolo (Mac) Vitelli
Joe Paparone	...	Papa
Dennis Farina	...	Mr. Stunder
Kaiulani Lee	...	Mrs. Stunder
Richard Spore	...	Francis
James Madio	...	Young Mac
Stephi Lineburg	...	Young Alice

Storyline

Niccolo (Mac) Vitelli is the eldest of three brothers and leads their family after their beloved father dies. Their father was a builder and his sons continue in this family trade. At first, they work for Polowski, who does shoddy work and cheats on his jobs. When the brothers can no longer take being employed by such an angry vitriolic boss who takes no pride in his work, they set up their own company. Together, Vitelli Brothers Construction builds houses with pride and care. However, Mac turns out to be an overbearing workaholic, with obsessive concern about the quality of their work and incredible attention to detail. His intensity and driven ambition precludes a happy family life and eventually drives away his two happy-go-lucky brothers from his nascent construction empire.

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Plot Keywords:

work | brother | construction | house | peeping | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language, and for some sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Polish Italian

Release Date:

19 February 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tre bröder

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$471,120 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Macfilm productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor) Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The answering machine message that is played at the end of the movie is an actual message that John Turturro's father left him before he died.

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Quotes

Niccolo Vitelli: [Being outbid for a desired house lot] Cocksucker! Cuntlapper!

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Connections

Referenced in New York at the Movies (2002)

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Soundtracks

"MAMA"
Music by C.A.Bixio
Italian Lyric: B. Cherubini
English Lyric: Harold Barlow and Phil Brito
Courtesy of Southern Library of Recorded Music

User Reviews

I've seen enough of this stuff.

I think there's a tendency for actors who decide to direct their own movies to leave absolutely everything up to their colleagues, the actors, including driving the story. I couldn't tell if this film was scripted or improvised, but there's an awful lot of long, no-dialogue shots of faces and activity that don't advance the plot, what there is of it. A surprising amount of what dialogue there is, is in untranslated Italian-which didn't bother me, except for the fact that-again-it didn't advance the story much. After about half an hour of establishing 4 or 5 characters without much action or tension, I still couldn't tell where the film was going. It seems to be about holding one's work to high standards, but then what? No dramatic tension, no imbalance to resolve, no conflicts to keep track of. Two stars for good acting and competent staging; two stars for lousy script, absent directing, and nonexistent editing. I can't be accused of spoiling anything if I merely point out that this film left me plenty of time between dialogue and story elements to ask myself about the plot, the story, the acting, the characters...it didn't draw me in at all.