Synopsis
Mac (John Turturro), a homebuilder, takes enormous pride in his work. Fed up with thecorner-cutting of his boss, he quits and, along with his two brothers, starts up his own buildingcompany. There are many problems on the way to success, and not least among them is Mac’sown tyrannical perfection, which takes its toll on everyone around him.
If the actual plot of Mac is something that we’ve all seen plenty of times before, itstexture and its tone are what make…the film a winner. The characters are finely observed, and arepresented with a great deal of affection and humour. The comic standout is the incarnation of theVitelli brothers’ mother — a perpetually off-screen, perpetually shrieking harridan. The film isreplete with extreme close-ups of the finer details of work, and the building of a house isrevealed to be just as much an art form as Mac’s younger brother’s paintings.
Audio
The sound is 2.0, and is very effective within those limits. The music is impressive,especially during the opening credits, with a very big, expansive sound. The environmentaleffects are solid, with few opportunities passed up. This is, however, a film where most of thesound is concentrated in the dialogue, and this is clean and undistorted, despite all of Turturro’sshouting. The left-right separation is very good too.
Video
The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer has fine colours, blacks and flesh tones. Thereis some minor grain in the darker scenes, but for the most part there is no problem here, and theedge enhancement is virtually non-existent as well. The image is very sharp. The print is a bitdirty now and then, but all in all, a very solid transfer.
Special Features
Essentially none. There are trailers for Anger Management, Big Night, andBoyz N the Hood. They can only be seen when the disc loads, however, and cannot beaccessed from the bare-bones menu.
Closing Thoughts
An excellent 1992 debut from Turturro as a director, with fine performances all round.Recommended.
Special Features List
- Trailers
