By Geno McGahee
In 1992, the nation was captivated by the story of 17-year-old Amy Fisher. The “Long Island Lolita” and her relation with the much older and married Joey Buttafuoco became the topic of discussion for every tabloid. The day she shot Mary Jo Buttafuoco (Laurie Paton), Joey’s wife, brought this story to the attention of the masses and sparked three made-for-TV movies with every major network capitalizing on the popularity. One of the made-for-TV films was “THE AMY FISHER STORY”, starring Drew Barrymore in the title role.
Written by Janet Brownell and directed by Andy Tennant, THE AMY FISHER STORY is a hilarious take on the events that led to the shooting of Mary Jo. Amy Fisher (Barrymore) is having troubles at home with her overbearing father, Elliot (Ken Pogue). After buying her a car, he gives her strict guidelines, stating that she cannot drive it at night or have any passengers. Her mother, Roseann (Linda Darlow), plays referee between the two and tries to keep the peace.
When Amy cracks up her car, she goes to the auto body shop, owned by Joey Buttafuoco (Tony Denison). Immediately, the two flirt with each other and they start a relationship. Amy starts showing up at body shop with regularity and she becomes consumed with Joey. Joey welcomes the affection, but wants the best of both worlds, keeping Amy on the side and keeping his happy family in the dark.
Joey begins pimping Amy out and the two begin making money, but Amy is doing it out of love and loyalty to her man. She becomes obsessed with Joey and sees only one obstacle in the way of her happiness. She has to kill Mary Jo. She gets a gun and meets Mary Jo at the door, telling her that her husband is a cheater and then shooting her in the head and taking off. Amy is arrested and the media circus begins.
Amy (Harley Jane Kozak), a reporter, starts covering the case and starts to see the treatment of Fisher as unfair. The focus of the media is on the “Long Island Lolita” and her prostitution and obsession and very little on Joey, who pimped her out. Amy fights hard to cover it in a different fashion as Amy sits in a cell, still obsessed with Joey. Joey stands with his injured and permanently disfigured wife, denying any relationship with Amy.
It was nice to see Kozak again. I always associate her with THE HOUSE ON SORORITY ROAD, a great slasher film from 1983, but she was also in ARACHNOPHOBIA. She has this very balanced delivery, always seeming like the voice of reason and she is cast accordingly, most of the time. She was perfect for this role as the reporter.
Amy begins to get sympathy from the public, but her relationship with a muscle-bound man with a mullet and 70’s porn mustache proves her demise. He sets her up and has her discuss the case, leading to a worse sentence. I wish Amy was older. When you mature, you start to realize that a guy with a mullet and a 70’s porn mustache is NOT your friend. They always screw you over.
THE AMY FISHER STORY is very amusing. The 90s was a terrible time for fashion and it’s on great display with this movie. You can’t go wrong with Drew Barrymore. She is naturally likable and that is the case with this film. It’s easy to be on her side and that is sort of the angle of this movie, presenting Amy as a troubled teen with a bad home life with the desperate need for love.
I highly recommend this film. It’s completely over the top and absurd. I found it very amusing.
Rating: 7/10
