Mac MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 1/2 Content: -3

Three Italian-American brothers in Queens, New York, work together on a construction crew, building houses for a ruthless and dishonest contractor. Mac (John Turturro) loses his job when he refuses to compromise the quality of his work. He persuades his brothers, Vico (Michael Badalucco) and Bruno (Carl Capotorto), to form a partnership, Vitelli Brothers Construction. Meanwhile, Mac falls in love with Alice (Katherine Borowitz), whom he first remembers through a series of flashbacks to his youth. Mac, his brothers, and Alice pool their money to buy some land out in the country. After they work day and night to build four houses, the houses remain unsold, mostly because of the odor of a cow pasture on one side, and an insane asylum on the other. The ruthless contractor from earlier days again enters the scene and causes problems. Mac's brothers become disillusioned and decide not to join Mac and Alice in their next project. It seems that Mac has become obsessed with working, and expects his brothers to be the same. MAC explores family relationships with care and understanding. Not an action film, but mature audiences will appreciate the realistic portrayal of blue-collar workers 40 years ago.

Not surprisingly, the construction workers litter this film with obscenities. This constant offensive language detracts from the acting. The guys are shown urinating in the woods, and then rub it on their hands for blisters. In an art class, a scantily-clad model poses for a portrait. Male rear nudity is shown in the bedroom. There are three sexually-suggestive scenes, one with heavy fondling on a subway and the others with caressing in a truck and at a party. One scene suggests sexual intercourse, fully clothed and obscured. One brother, Vico, shows no regret for stealing a hammer, instead uttering loud racial slurs. Mac, however, is the voice of right and reason. At his father's funeral Mac has a bizarre vision of his father sitting up in the coffin, joking about its shoddy construction. The workers get into fist fights, but no one is seriously hurt. The incredibly foul language mars an otherwise interesting and lively look into the working-class ethic of the 1950s.

Preview Reviewer: Alice Anderson
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Co., 10203 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90067-6403