The Family Reviews

I just saw a couple of days ‘Les aventures extraordinaires d'Adèle Blanc-Sec’ and I was amazed about how underwhelming the whole thing was. Well, this other directing effort from Luc Besson was maybe slightly better but only slightly. The saddest thing about this flick is that if Luc Besson would have made a movie starring such legends like Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer 20 years ago, it would have been a huge event but, nowadays, both actors and even the French director don’t really try anymore and it is not really surprising that they delivered such a weak effort. At least, it was Besson’s very first comedy so that was neat to see him trying something new but the whole thing was barely entertaining. The main issue is that the premise was actually rather weak and, to make things worse, it was so poorly developed. I mean, as a French man, it was obvious that Besson should have been bale to handle better such a American family stranded in a small French village in the middle of nowhere but his approach didn’t really impress me. For example, why all the French people did speak English in this village? I wouldn’t expect so many French people to speak English in a big city but certainly not in a small village like this one. It’s like the Manzoni family, they have been in France for a while by now so they should speak more/better French, especially the kids who went to some French schools. At least, De Niro and Pfeiffer were not bad and they had some fun with the material but their children were both poorly written. At least, Diana Agron did look lovely but her character and her brother were usually rather boring and unconvincing. To conclude, it was another really weak effort from Besson and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 

A former mob boss who's been marked for death after ratting out his friends, Giovanni (Robert De Niro) is placed in the Witness Protection Program, which irks his wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer), son Warren (John D'Leo) and daughter Belle (Dianna Argon). The family are consistently moving from place to place under the direction of an agitated CIA agent (Tommy Lee Jones), and now find themselves in a small town near Normandy in France. Taking on the new identity of Fred Blake, Giovanni decides to sit back and pen his memoirs while his family use their various talents to cause mischief around the local area. But as the family deals with their respective problems, a greater threat emerges, as the men looking for Giovanni are on the verge of uncovering his new location.

The Family derives its humour from the cultural conflict that arises as a result of these American mobsters trying to fit into quaint, provincial French culture. From this, Besson creates a collection of amusing vignettes and moments hung onto the narrative framework, resulting in an admittedly interesting comedy that nevertheless lacks a proper through-line. It feels like a tremendously disorganised experience - De Niro delivers voiceovers on occasion, none of the characters are given the rich development they need, the pacing is strange, and even bad dreams and flashbacks are used, not to mention Besson unsuccessfully veers between the comedic and the outright mean-spirited. It's problematic that the film opens with the gruesome massacre of a family that's borderline uncomfortable to watch, and a few scenes later, we're watching funny dialogue between Giovanni and his family.

Keeping The Family afloat are the competent technical contributions across the board, as well as the fact that the humour is actually very funny. There are some darkly comic moments that made this reviewer laugh out loud, and there's even a meta gag that will please Martin Scorsese fans. Being a Luc Besson movie, it does contain its fair share of fisticuffs and violence too, which is primarily relegated to the picture's third act. Once Giovanni's enemies catch up to him, Besson has great fun staging action beats, which earns the picture's R rating due to the excessive violence. It's good fun, and although nobody will ever accuse the storytelling of being coherent or classy, The Family is always strangely watchable.

After years of coasting through his film roles for the money, De Niro seems to be awake here, and actually having fun in the role of Giovanni. It's not a vintage De Niro performance by any stretch, but there's genuine energy and substance to his character, which is miraculous considering most of his other recent work. Pfeiffer also handles the role of Maggie like a pro, with charm and comedic punch that's beneficial. Equally good are the kids, with D'Leo a nicely quirky presence, while Agron actually gives the production a few welcome moments of gravitas. Tommy Lee Jones is not the best that we've ever seen him, but he manages to be funny from time to time, and he suits his role nicely.

It's hard to predict anyone's reaction to The Family, as it's not great cinema and it's certainly no classic, but it's goofy and watchable, and it made this reviewer laugh on several occasions. As long as you're not seeking another rich drama like Léon: The Professional, this movie should fulfil your post-summer viewing needs.

6.2/10