Niccolo "Mac" Vitelli is the eldest of three brothers in 1950s Queens. Mac is a construction builder, a trade he learned from his late father, and helps put his brothers on the job. When they can no longer take working for Polowski, who does shoddy work and is abusive to his staff, Mac and his brothers set up their own company. Together, Vitelli Brothers Construction builds houses with pride and care. But 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 begins to drive his brothers away.
Direction
Turturro's visual love letter to his carpenter father.
Acting
Turturro channels volcanic restraint as the obsessive eldest.
Production
Gritty 1950s Queens built with obsessive period accuracy.
Director
John Turturro
John Turturro
Niccolo "Mac" Vitelli
Michael Badalucco
Vico Vitelli
Carl Capotorto
Bruno Vitelli
Katherine Borowitz
Alice Stunder
Ellen Barkin
Oona Goldfarb
John Amos
Nat
Nicholas Turturro
Tony Gloves
Steven Randazzo
Gus
Matthew Sussman
Clarence
Dennis Farina
Mr. Stunder
Olek Krupa
Polowski
Mike Starr
Fireman
Kaiulani Lee
Mrs. Stunder
Richard Spore
Francis
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Turturro wrote this as a tribute to his father, a carpenter who died before filming. The Vitelli brothers' dynamic mirrors his own family.
The film's Cannes standing ovation and then total commercial failure (under $100K box office) ironically mirrors Mac's own doomed integrity.
US
