AboveDeepBuggy Some things I liked some I did not.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

nicksambidesjr Mac is a movie to prize if you are of Italian-American heritage, grew up or live near Italians, or want to look beyond the mobster cliché that surrounds them. It portrays Italians far more realistically than "The Godfather" -- a classic, but only concerned with a tiny fraction of Italian-American life -- as superior and extraordinarily hard- working artists, craftsmen, builders and family men, naive with money, awkward at sex, unprejudiced, and bewildered by women. It is funny, wistfully sad, compelling, sweet and powerfully LOUD. It is a treat of a movie, one of a string of small independent films to emerge out of the so-called "video auteur" age of the early 1990s. Its director and star, John Turturro, based the movie largely upon is dad and his own early years, and the film rings true with that kind of authenticity.

birck 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.

whpratt1 Enjoyed this entire film, having grown up in Queens, N.Y.it brought back great memories of how hard it was for the Italian people to work at their skills as builders. John Turturro, and Nicholas Turturro gave excellent performances and Ellen Barkin had a small supporting role as a writer who charmed the Italian young men. This was a down to earth picture of Italian people and their family life to struggle in the building industry in Queens, N.Y. This is definitely a film classic.

fliphop john turturro plays his dad. hes really really into construction, carpentry, building houses. he quits the job for his jerk off boss and he and his brothers start their own business. then he starts pushing his brothers around kind of like his old boss did. this movie is cool the way it shows these things. it also shows a big part of the mans life it sort of feels like a trip or something 'i can remember way back before they were married, and when they met' when i see him and his wife together in their later years. theres a couple things i dont get in the movie like whats ellen barkin, what happens to her, what happens to his mom who is always screaming off-camera, did his wife really sell the houses? some people say this is all about some message about how the main guy is perfect, but i aint convinced. the last shot has him dragging his kid around by the hand like he were a doll. he is so obsesssed he drives his brothers nuts and they quit working for him. the character has got spirit and hes got problems. its a very interesting picture of the main character.