The Family (2013)

One of my all time favorites.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

You see many a film where you say " Wow, that's a bit coincidental". Then you see this and it goes to a whole new level, and you think the director and writer just think you are stupid and will buy anything. I'm referring to the utterly ridiculous set up of a French village high school newspaper that miraculously makes it's way to a mob boss in a New York penitentiary. Not completely unbelievable, except for the fact that the son of Robert DeNiro who is wanted dead by the mob boss, goes to this school, and just so happens to write an anecdote he remembers when he was a little boy that was said by yep guess who? the mob boss reading it. Added to that the boss reads the one tiny section of the newspaper with the anecdote. And that ruined the film for me.....til the last 20 minutes or so.The story has much promise but I felt it could have been so much better. The premise is good but sometimes the styles of the film jar. You have thrillers with comic elements and comedies with thriller elements but with this the styles jar. One second you are watching a comedy and the next it's a violent edge of your seat thriller. It maybe extreme as an example but imagine you were watching the French connection and then you had some anchorman humour in. And here lies a big problem with the film. You are supposed to be on the families side and they do crazy things in a comical style but then next minute the film serious so the things they do then seem violent. Take the daughter Belle for example. In the context of a comedy she's a no nonsense chick who beats the crap out of anyone who upsets her. But then she's a stalker who becomes suicidal and wants to die after a very fleeting romance with an unrequited love. If we are in comedy territory we can get away with it, but when the film gets serious all these things make her seem unhinged. Are we watching a comic character or a serious one? this is an example where the styles don't meld.DeNiro is ok, but you never really believe he was once a threatening mafioso even though he's played many in the past. Maybe age has softened him, but it seems he just walks through this. It's not terrible or bad, just not the conscientious work and characterisation from his younger years...but then scripts and movies don't offer that as much for an actor. Overall, I found it watchable, the film goes into mainly thriller territory last 20 minutes and is pretty good, but even then comic elements are added which just jar.

Greetings from Lithuania."The Family" (2013) is a fun, involving and just a very entertaining action / comedy / crime film. It kinda does not take it self to seriously, and it works. I liked performances in here, especially by Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer. Pacing of this movie was very good - at running time 1 h 45 min this movie never dragged. There are some references to famous "gangster" movies along the way.Overall, "The Family" is a fun and entertaining movie package. You don't need to take it to seriously as its comedy on its core, and while its not the most original, it as a good movie.

I vaguely remember when this movie was in the cinemas. I didn't go see it and I didn't even see a trailer, but I remember seeing the poster on the wall at the theater. Once it was up on Netflix, I wanted to see it.I was expecting some kind of weird mixture between crime drama and a "unusual family" comedy like the Addams Family and We're The Millers. Not the best examples but they are the first ones I can think of. The Family wasn't exactly close to my expectation. The Family is way more refreshing the way it is. Still, it's hard to say what is the main type of this film. It's partially a comedy, it's hilarious and clever and all that. But then again it seems like a deep drama, because it's about a family who is trying to adjust to the new situation, and everyone is facing their own challenges. But of course it's also a crime thriller.While it's hard to say which one of these mostly defines the movie, the thing is, the elements of all those types are used so wonderfully, that as the story goes on, it doesn't matter. The story and the characters are intriguing and it's exciting to see what is going to happen. That shows what an excellent writer Tonino Benacquista is. While I don't know the differences between his book and the screenplay by Besson and Caleo, but I'm guessing his Benacquista's writing involved a lot of the stuff I loved about this movie.The Family is intriguing, thrilling and fun. It has excellent casting and excellent writing. While this movie doesn't really stand out, it's not astounding in anyway, it's still a good film and definitely worth seeing.

The Family is a mediocre movie with an averagely written storyline and a mostly terrific cast. The performances are what really hold it together, keeping it modestly entertaining, Robert De Niro plays a really intriguing character who had a great droll personality, Michelle Pfeiffer shines as his wife and his scenes with Tommy Lee Jones are my favourite, seeing the two of them acting together was a pleasure. I did not enjoy the teenagers storyline, it was very typical teen comedy, as we see a relationship develop between De Niro's daughter and her math teacher, it was poor and easily could have been done just as effectively in twenty minutes on a television series. As for the main plot, though there were certain scenes I really liked, such as the Top 10 and the interview, it lacks originality, there is nothing here we have not seen before, and it feels as if they are aware of that, it makes no attempts to be different or to stand out in any way, which every movie should. It has its moments, but The Family misses more times than it hits, and I would say it is better off avoided. The heads of a Mafia family move to France under a Witness Protection Program. Best Performance: Robert De NiroWorst Performance: Dianna Agron