The Family
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After ratting out his Mafia cohorts, Giovanni Manzoni and his family enter the Witness Protection Program and relocate to a sleepy town in France. Despite the best efforts of their handler to keep them in line, Giovanni (now called Fred Blake), his wife and children can't help but resort to doing things the "family" way. However, their dependence on such old habits places everyone in danger from vengeful mobsters.
What critics thought
Luc Besson's mob-family-in-France comedy landed poorly with most critics, who found it tonally erratic and narratively sloppy — a gangster farce that can't decide whether to wink at its own genre conventions or play them straight. Where critics found something to hold onto was the cast, with De Niro, Pfeiffer, and Dianna Agron drawing warmer notices than the film around them deserved.
“Besson creates the impression that The Family is set in a world drawn from gangster movies and comic strips—an idea that culminates in De Niro participating, as the town's token American, in a film club discussion of a certain Martin Scorsese movie.”
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky·The A.V. Club
“treats his protagonists as likable cartoons yet never provides a single reason to view them as anything less than remorseless, repugnant psychos”
Nick Schager·Time Out
“The movie has holes galore. It has abrupt tonal shifts, an incoherent back story and abandoned subplots.... But buoyed by hot performances, it sustains a zapping electrical energy.”
Stephen Holden·The New York Times
“While Besson knows his way around an action film, he's not as adept at comedy. The result is an often-violent, occasionally amusing fish-out-of-eau tale that plunks a family of wise guys in the French countryside with predictable results.”
Linda Barnard·The Toronto Star
“It uses irregular De Niro voiceovers on occasion. It reads segments of a book on occasion. It even uses bad dreams and flashbacks, all of which, when used together, make the film seem disorganized and poorly put together.”
Mack Rawden·CinemaBlend
Genres
Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Cast & Crew
Luc BessonDirector
Robert De NiroFred Blake / Giovanni Manzoni
Michelle PfeifferMaggie Blake
Tommy Lee JonesFBI Agent Robert Stansfield
Dianna AgronBelle Blake
John D'LeoWarren Blake
Jon FredaRocco
David BelleMezzo
Domenick LombardozziAgent Caputo
Jimmy PalumboAgent Di Cicco
Vincent PastoreFat Willy
Paul BorgheseAlbert
Sacha GalperineComposer
Evgueni GalperineComposer
Thierry ArbogastCinematographyThe Family
After ratting out his Mafia cohorts, Giovanni Manzoni and his family enter the Witness Protection Program and relocate to a sleepy town in France. Despite the best efforts of their handler to keep them in line, Giovanni (now called Fred Blake), his wife and children can't help but resort to doing things the "family" way. However, their dependence on such old habits places everyone in danger from vengeful mobsters.
What critics thought
Luc Besson's mob-family-in-France comedy landed poorly with most critics, who found it tonally erratic and narratively sloppy — a gangster farce that can't decide whether to wink at its own genre conventions or play them straight. Where critics found something to hold onto was the cast, with De Niro, Pfeiffer, and Dianna Agron drawing warmer notices than the film around them deserved.
“Besson creates the impression that The Family is set in a world drawn from gangster movies and comic strips—an idea that culminates in De Niro participating, as the town's token American, in a film club discussion of a certain Martin Scorsese movie.”
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky·The A.V. Club
“treats his protagonists as likable cartoons yet never provides a single reason to view them as anything less than remorseless, repugnant psychos”
Nick Schager·Time Out
“The movie has holes galore. It has abrupt tonal shifts, an incoherent back story and abandoned subplots.... But buoyed by hot performances, it sustains a zapping electrical energy.”
Stephen Holden·The New York Times
“While Besson knows his way around an action film, he's not as adept at comedy. The result is an often-violent, occasionally amusing fish-out-of-eau tale that plunks a family of wise guys in the French countryside with predictable results.”
Linda Barnard·The Toronto Star
“It uses irregular De Niro voiceovers on occasion. It reads segments of a book on occasion. It even uses bad dreams and flashbacks, all of which, when used together, make the film seem disorganized and poorly put together.”
Mack Rawden·CinemaBlend
Genres
Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Cast & Crew
Luc BessonDirectorRobert De NiroFred Blake / Giovanni ManzoniMichelle PfeifferMaggie BlakeTommy Lee JonesFBI Agent Robert StansfieldDianna AgronBelle BlakeJohn D'LeoWarren BlakeJon FredaRoccoDavid BelleMezzoDomenick LombardozziAgent CaputoJimmy PalumboAgent Di CiccoVincent PastoreFat WillyPaul BorgheseAlbertSacha GalperineComposerEvgueni GalperineComposerThierry ArbogastCinematographyStream
Rent & Buy