I recently had the opportunity to see a movie premier online. I must say that the experience really was, well very nice. The movie itself was very good. Not one that I would normally go to, I tend to go to movies for escapism like Avengers and Battleship. But this movie proved me wrong. The subject matter is one that hits quite close to home, thankfully not exactly but close enough. The dad, Joe played by Chazz Palminteri is a business owner who moves his family down south to New Orleans. The rest of the family Stella, Andie MacDowell, the mom and the daughters Natalie, Jodelle Ferland, and Maddie, Rainey Qualley are along for the ride. But things are not going so well, and Joe's old anger management problems surface again.

I think Mighty Fine is intended to be a coming-of-age drama. It features a voiceover from one of the daughters in the film recounting these things as though she is an older woman now looking back on her past. However, the girls don't do a whole lot in the film and there are many scenes with the father alone because it's really Chazz Palminteri's movie. The main thrust of the story is that this father is a bit crazy and taking it out on his family. The way his moods shift so dramatically it feels like he might be a bit bipolar and he is also struggling with some significant anger issues. I also got the impression that he was spending money a bit too freely, but they never did a good job of showing his financial situation getting the better of him. If that's a key plot point you typically see bill collectors pounding down the door, things being repossessed, or at the very least the main characters agonizing over stacks of unpaid bills. I didn't see any of that in this movie, so I think it failed to deliver the story effectively. IMDb also labels Mighty Fine as a "Comedy" which I can only imagine is because of Andie MacDowell's laughable attempt at an accent. I've heard actors struggle with this kind of language work before, but this accent came and went with each sentence, and always made me chuckle when she overdid it and sounded like the parody of someone from a random European country. The rest of the movie is like a Lifetime drama, and not a good one either. The one positive was that Mighty Fine was short, otherwise it's not worth anyone's time.

The pace of Mighty Fine unfolds beautifully. A family is shown driving from Brooklyn to New Orleans, playing word games and in various levels of excitement over their impending move. The patriarch, Chazz Palminteri, is moving to be closer to his business headquarters, and while his wife, Andie MacDowell, and his younger daughter, Jodelle Ferland, are happy, his older daughter, Rainey Qualley, isn't glad to leave all her friends before the start of her senior year. Chazz buys an exquisite mansion, and everything seems to be wonderful. He's constantly in a great mood, he takes his girls out for a ride on the boat, he encourages Jodelle when she practices playing pool, but the audience is waiting for the other shoe to drop. There's something in the air. Is Chazz going to lose his job? Is Andie going to get a cancer diagnosis? Something bad is going to happen, and when it finally does, it explains everything.

This is a very heavy, well-acted family drama. Don't pay attention to any synopses or trailers that try to pass it off as a Little Miss Sunshine road trip. Chazz plays a rage-a-holic who terrifies his family, and his performance is remarkable. He's completely happy and enthusiastic, then when something sets him off, he's quite literally out-of-control. Afterwards, he looks like he barely knows what's happened, and when the realization takes over, he's confused and sorry. The cycle continues, and as anyone who's been on the receiving end knows, it's impossible to relax around him.

Adding a touch of sweetness and more than a touch of realism to the cast is mother-daughter team Andie and Rainey-mother-daughter in real life! This is Rainey's film debut, and she wears her emotions on her sleeve in a way that doesn't show her inexperience. Andie puts on an accent in this movie-to make up for Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, perhaps?-and she shows the underlying strength every mother wishes to have. If you can handle it, this is a great movie to watch for the acting.

Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to upsetting scenes involving children, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

DLM warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. The opening credits are over a 'home movie' and use a shaky camera that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"