Amy Fisher: My Story (1992 TV Movie) User Reviews

The End of Civilization As We Know It.

[rmax304823 · 4/10 · 23 March 2016]

There's a certain trashy appeal in tabloid stories like this. There MUST be, as evidenced by 2016's presidential campaigns. I don't blame the actors, the director, or anyone else associated with this television teratoma. Under some circumstances, we will do anything for money. I played a drunken cowboy in a whorehouse in the immortal film "Traxx."

The tawdry story itself -- two reckless narcissists of no intellectual bandwidth are drawn together -- might have been done in an interesting way if those responsible had put any effort into the script and the images, but it sticks closely to afternoon soap operas.

The dialog is unspeakably bad. "Dear Paul. You're the only one who understands. Even Joey has betrayed me. Where did it all begin? Did it start with my father and what he did to me? Did it start with my mother, who wouldn't stop him? Or was it Joey?"

That's a rough paraphrase but not TOO rough.

Of course there are two sides to every soap opera, and if you find this version appealing, you might try watching Joey's story in another TV flick. I forget the title but Alyssa Milano has it on her resumé.

I couldn't sit through it. I prefer the insults being flung around on the political stage these days. They have more verve and they've come to elicit chuckles instead of winces.

The Fisher / Buttafuoco story, the basic facts

[Wuchakk · 6/10 · 30 April 2023]

Based on the infamous true story that caused media hysteria in the 90s, a 16 year-old girl (Noelle Parker) from Long Island foolishly enters into a relationship with a 35 year-old married man, Joey Buttafuoco (Ed Marinaro), just a few miles from Jones Beach. A year later she confronts the wife, Mary Jo (Kathleen Laskey), at her doorstep, shooting her in the side of the head.

"Amy Fisher: My Story," aka "Lethal Lolita," was released by NBC on December, 28, 1992, just seven months after the shooting. Six days later CBS and ABC aired their versions in early January. After viewing this version, I watched the A&E documentary, which revealed that it sticks to the bare facts and is therefore the most realistic of the three with Amy narrating her experience from a jail cell.

The CBS version, "Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story," features Alyssa Milano in the role of Amy, but supports the Buttafuoco fiction that he never had sex with Amy, which he later admitted was false in light of the evidence against him (e.g. Motel receipts). As such, "Casualties of Love" depicts Joe as an irresistible stud who's stalked by an obsessed girl that imagined their relationship, resulting in the shooting of Mary Jo.

ABC's entry, "The Amy Fisher Story," has the star power of Drew Barrymore in the title role, only 17 during filming. This version was based on the chronicling of New York Post writer Amy Pagnozzi.

While "Amy Fisher: My Story," aka "Lethal Lolita," tells the story from Amy's perspective, I didn't get the feeling that it was unbalanced. Fisher's flaws and foolishness are plainly revealed, although a semi-abusive relationship with her father and sexual abuse by an unnamed relative are hinted at as reasons for why she made such bad decisions.

No matter how you slice it, the near fatal shooting that scarred Mary Jo for life, split up two marriages and shattered two families by putting them through hell on earth can be traced to arrogant Joey's unwise seduction of an underaged girl and ongoing sexual relationship.

While the first half is too by-the-numbers, the second half is compelling enough with an outstanding depiction of the doorstep confrontation. This version also has the actors who most resemble their real-life counterparts. Moreover, Joey's reasoning to justify his unfaithful actions are superbly presented.

The one with Drew Barrymore, by contrast, is the exact opposite: It starts as a compelling coming-age-drama since it stars Drew and reveals more details about Amy before meeting Joey. Yet, by the second half, it bogs down into mechanical storytelling with a way less effective depiction of the critical confrontation between Amy and Mary jo.

The film runs 1 hours, 33 minutes, and was shot in Toronto.

GRADE: B-

Troglodyte Meets Jailbait

[JasonDanielBaker · 2 March 2014]

Middle-aged creep auto body shop owner Joey Buttafuoco (Marinaro) aggressively pursues a sexual relationship with sixteen year old customer Amy Fisher - a crude yet curvaceous airhead, after doing work on her car. She inexplicably reciprocates the sinister older man's feelings resulting in a sordid and ill-fated affair that concludes with her shooting Buttafuoco's wife Mary-Jo in the face and being imprisoned for it.

Based on a true story which was tabloid fodder back in the early 1990s this is a cheap exploration of a sequence of events which exhibited the quintessence of tackiness and seediness of late 20th century North American culture. It would all have had little resonance except for the violence of its conclusion. For those who look down upon others there was yet another evident justification for their reasons why.

For those who look down upon American television and specifically made-for-TV movies this production appeared to offer definitive justification. The lack of imagination shown in crafting a teleplay gleaned straight from supermarket broadsheet headlines generally makes for poor screen writing. Worse, the requisite attention to the facts of the case limited access to any creative avenues which might have proved entertaining.

The emphasis in productions like this is on capitalizing upon the tabloid mileage and commensurate word-of-mouth which captures the attention of potential viewers. Hastily produced so that its release coincides with the time in which the news item remains topical the finished product can be haphazard in quality. It can also come off as garish opportunism and pandering on the part of the network which broadcasts it. Yet there were multiple TV movie productions closely based upon the same news item.

The only creativity readily evident here was in the absurd casting. Ivy League educated ex-pro football player Ed Marinaro - an Italian-American Ken doll portrayed thuggish lech Joey Buttafuoco. One of the most arresting things about the case was the fact that Buttafuoco looked like what he was - a crass, predatory and noticeably out of shape scuzzo. Marinaro, a romantic ideal for some women was not equipped to portray that effectively.

a total lie and only Amy fisher's version of the facts..there is no victim except Mary jo.

[seve072 · 3/10 · 7 May 2015]

I discovered this TV movie with Noelle parker in France recently on the net and i watched it because i am curious and i was thrilled by Drew barrymore and Alyssa milano' s versions but i quickly was disappointed.As i watched the movie i found it boring,with a lot of scenes with Joey buttafuoco in a motel and a Amy fisher recording herself on a tape to tell her story.But can we say that her version is credible? How can we be certain that the version of a 17 year old troubled teenager is the truth not knowing Buttafuoco 's version of the story..We only had her version of the facts in this movie and Amy seemed to be confused and a liar..okay she was 16 years old when she met Buttafuoco,okay this guy was married and she found him attractive but didn't she crash her car again and again with the only excuse to see him? Didn't she know he was married? And after a while she says that he took advantage of her..sorry but i didn't buy her version.Amy was old enough to know that Joey was married and she clearly insisted and she pretends that he forced her to be a hooker.Come on amy! This makes no sense. This guy wasn' t perfect that's obvious but Amy F wasn't a victim and the story would portray her as the only VICTIM.I don't believe that there was a victim AMy and a bastard ,joey.I am sure that reality is more complicated than this cheap movie and that real Amy wasn't a good girl that stayed at home after school and studied until dinner.She was troubled and had mental obsessions and she knew what she was doing when she shot on Mary Jo..So i noted this movie 3 .

Most realistic and believable version. . .

[zephyr-123 · 10/10 · 20 November 2009]

I can remember when the Amy Fisher/Joey Buttafuoco saga happened and it being in the news and all but, at the time, I was only mildly interested and mostly thought the whole situation (not including Mary Jo) was asinine.

Recently, for some reason, I've been very interested and have seen all three movie versions to try and suss out what happened and why it happened. I think a lot of people (other than being drawn in by the sordidness of it all) just wanted to know, especially at the time that it happened, how something so bizarre could occur.

The other two movie versions, The Amy Fisher Story with Drew Barrymore and Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story with Alyssa Milano are pretty good and well acted but feel kinda like the "tabloid" version in the way all parties involved are treated. In the AM version, Joey is depicted as a harmless victim and Amy like a psycho sex-pot (and kinda manic). The best thing about that movie is that it's the one where you get a very good viewpoint from what may have been Mary Jo's perspective and what she suffered. The DB version, depicts Amy as (exclusively) cold-hearted, cold-blooded, abusive to her parents, slut, etc. The problem with the way she is portrayed in those movies is that they feel like caricatures of a real person. I'm not saying that Amy doesn't have some of those aspects to her personality (she probably does), I just don't believe those one-dimensional interpretations of her.

This movie, Lethal Lolita, which was a made-for-TV version also, feels the most realistic in it's interpretation of all parties involved. There isn't much of Mary Jo, but Amy, Joey, her friends and her parents all ring true in the way they are portrayed. The events and details unfold in a believable and much more understandable way. One of the problems I have with the other two movies is that they gloss over the issue of child molestation of Amy at the hands of her father. That is something that goes a long way in explaining some of Amy's "issues" and does a disservice to her by not making more of that point. This movie doesn't push that point heavily but does give it more importance. One of the things I liked about this version is that it gets more into the details of the party's personal motivations. Much of what is happening is subtle emotionally but more truthfully explains what happened, how it happened and why in a more objective, realistic and intelligent manner. I'd say if you're really that interested in the whole thing, watch all three. They are all fun to watch but I feel this one is the most believable.

I think some people who don't like this version don't because it doesn't paint the people involved as all black or all white. They are mostly shown as being amazingly screwed-up, emotionally unstable, overly self-involved (narcissistic) with incredibly bad judgment. You do see Joey's manipulation of Amy more clearly though which isn't an excuse for her but at least gives a fairer telling of her story than the other two. If you don't care for a version with subtle complexities that you have to pay attention to to catch, you'll probably like the other versions better.

One more note, another reviewer mentioned that they paid $90 for their tape. I know some dealers in Amazon were charging outlandish prices for this flick--some aren't. It's not worth $90. Personally, I don't think any movie is worth $90.

This movie is a complete lie!

[BreanneB · 23 July 2005]

I give this movie no stars at all. This is not the real story, it's fabricated, fictional and stupid. I have Amy's new book "If I Knew Then", it tells in there that it's not the real story. She only met with that Sheila Weller once and her attorney Eric Naighberg sold her rights to a production company to come up with her bail money. They should make a movie out of her new book.

Spoilers Contained Herein

Amy Fisher, shoots her lover's wife, but the woman doe not die, she gets caught and sentenced to 5-15 years in the Albion Correctional Facility but her sentence is later reduced to 3 to 11 years and she is let out after seven years. Mary Jo publicly forgave her. She is now married with three kids.