Plot
Set in Long Island, the film opens with Joey Buttafuoco (Jack Scalia) driving under influence of cocaine, fleeing from the cops and visiting his mother's grave. At home, his wife Mary Jo (Phyllis Lyons) awaits his return, disappointed in his drug back lapse. After she threatens to leave him if he does not quit using drugs, Joey decides to enter rehab. Six weeks later, he is a renewed man, promising his wife he is now the person again she fell in love with. Three years later, in the summer of 1991, he works in a car repair shop, and meets 17-year-old Amy Fisher (Alyssa Milano), who begs Joey to repair her car without telling her parents. Joey agrees, even though he is a close acquaintance of her father Elliot (Jack Kehler). Amy frequently crashes her car, prompting her to make multiple visits to Joey. It does not take long before she starts coming on to him, making hints of her promiscuous past despite her young age. Even though he does not respond to her affection, Joey does not especially pushes her away and constantly pays her special attention.
One day at the carnival with her friend Lizzy (Georgia Emelin), Amy notices Joey and surprises him with a kiss. Joey is startled and immediately leaves. After he is gone, Amy claims to Lizzy that she has been dating him for a while now. The next day, Joey finds out that Elliot has filed a complaint with the police after Amy has claimed that Joey gave her herpes. Joey sets out to the Fisher residence to set things straight, and Amy eventually admits that she lied about the situation. Joey is outraged, though does not inform his wife, fearing that it will affect their marriage. Later, at a cafe, Joey assures Amy that he has no interest in leaving his wife and children, and ignores her when she shows to him that she is wearing his car repair shop t-shirt. By now, Amy is madly in love with Joey and thinks that the only thing holding them apart is Mary Jo. She hires a contract killer to kill Mary Jo - paying him with 600 dollars and allowing him to sleep with her - though the young man eventually chickens out.
Six months later, she shows up at the Buttafuoco residence once again and claims to Mary Jo that Joey is having an affair with her "16-year-old sister", showing him Joey's car repair shop t-shirt to "prove" her claim. When Mary Jo refuses to believe her, Amy takes out her gun and shoots Mary Jo in the head. Later at the hospital, Joey is informed that his wife's situation is critical and that she might be paralyzed for the rest of her life, if she does not die. Amy, meanwhile, sets out to her boyfriend Paul (Michael Bowen), who is in a relationship with another woman, for comfort. Back in the hospital, a severely injured Mary Jo informs Joey and the detectives that her attacker owned his repair shop t-shirt. Joey then realizes Amy shot Mary Jo. Following her arrest, Amy claims that she and Joey both conspired to kill Mary Jo, enabling them to spend their life together. Joey denies any of Amy's claims, and swears to the cops that he was never involved with her. In the media, Joey is frequently mentioned as an adulterer and conspirer, causing even Mary Jo to question her husband.
Even though he is advised to not set out to the media, Joey decides to make an official report after the media releases a sex tape of Amy and an older man. It is claimed that Joey forced her into a life of prostitution, and that the older man of the tape was one of her clients. In prison, Amy continues to make love claims to Joey, now through letters. During the court case, Amy's bail is set at $2 million dollars, the highest in New York state history, and Joey is tarnished by reporters. He tries to stand by his wife, but Mary Jo is confused by all the "evidence" that's coming up in court, "proving" Joey is guilty. She blames him for not being able to protect her, though she does not leave him.
By August 1992, bail for Amy is made by a TV network working to adapt her story. Joey's life falls more apart when he is informed that the entire Buttafuoco family will lose the car repair shop if it is proven that he was in an affair with Amy (the pressure causes his father to have a heart attack). The Buttafuoco's want to allow Amy to have a plea bargain, or else her attorney will destroy the family company. Even though Mary Jo objects to the situation, reminding her family that she is victim here, Amy is allowed a deal in court: she will receive 5 to 15 years for "reckless assault". Pleas of "attempted murder" among others are dropped, so the D.A. can come after Joey Buttafuoco for statutory rape. Soon after, a video tape is released in which Amy brags about her plea, and asking Paul to marry her. The tape allows the Buttafuoco's to clear their name, while Amy receives the maximal sentence of 15 years in prison.
Read more about this topic: Casualties Of Love: The "Long Island Lolita" Story
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