Mac

Stars: John Turturro (Do the Right Thing, Barton Fink, Men of Respect), Ellen Barkin (Sea of Love, This Boy's Life), Katherine Borowitz (Internal Affairs, Men of Respect). Writer/director/star John Turturro's debut feature is an on-again, off-again Everyman tale whose artistic aspirations regularly butt up against its down to earth story. Set in suburban Queens in the 1950s, Mac opens with the three Vitelli brothers (Mac, Vico, and Bruno) reminiscing at their father's wake. A consummate craftsmen (as was Turturro's own late father), the senior Vitelli was an inspiration to his carpenter son Mac, who earns the wrath of his boss ("the Pole") because he refuses to take cost-cutting corners. Finally fed up, Mac walks off the job, and together with his brothers forms a new construction company, devoted to making quality houses. About this time, Mac falls in love with Alice (a truly engaging performance by Katherine Borowitz whose character unfortunately recedes into the background as the film progresses), while the two other brothers pursue Oona (Ellen Barkin), a wacky beat poet whose idea of individual expression is to lie naked on a bed dressed in a hundred slices of Wonder bread. Eventually tempers begin to flare between the driven Mac and his easier-going brothers and the film moves toward its powerful conclusion. As a working man's cry, Mac succeeds very well (even its offbeat sense of humor seems to mesh naturally with its overall lament for the loss of blue-collar pride in jobs well done). But its art house sensibility and resolute refusal to be another crowd-pleaser limit general appeal. Audience: Many will be pleasantly surprised by this earthy tale of a man who takes pride in quality work. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review--Mar. 9, 2004--Columbia TriStar, 118 min., R, $24.95, avail. Mar. 16--Making its debut on DVD, John Turturro's 1992 Mac features a sharp, nicely color-saturated anamorphic widescreen transfer, and solid Dolby Digital surround sound, but no extras. Bottom line: although extra-less, this lesser-known film is well worth picking up.]