In sort of a lay-up for THE Robert De Niro, The Family is a fun effective time. Playing a gangster from the notorious Manzoni family, he snitches and is placed in witness protection. His family – including wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer) son Warren (John D’Leo) and daughter Belle (Dianna Agron) cause so much trouble their FBI liaison Robert (Tommy Lee Jones) is forced to move the family every 90-days.
Exiled to a quite French hamlet (where everyone apparently speaks English quite well) they try to assimilate dealing with the kinds of cultural consequences you might expect. Warren, following in his father’s footsteps takes to running the school – keeping the bullies and business interests in check after getting a brief ass-kicking. Belle has her sights set on a graduate student, hoping to have a very French kind of fling. Funniest and most problematic of all is mom, Maggie – bringing her expectations to this remote (yet beautiful) little village that looks like something out of Epcot’s World Showcase; she just can’t seem to play nice. Early in the film she blows up a supermarket.
DeNiro’s Fred Blake sets about to write his memoirs, a dangerous feat all considered, which leads the story to it’s a hilarious scene when his expertise is called upon. Much of the funny material early on is you can see in the film’s trailer, however the later behavioral based humor really does work. Directed by master filmmaker Luc Besson the story is injected and edited with great style and energy – reaching almost the level of comedy’s best director Edgar Wright. The transitions alone are masterfully planned, executed and often hilarious.
What I enjoyed most of course are the relationships and DeNiro, as I mentioned this is a bit of a lay-up and here he’s having an awful lot of fun as a stereotypical good-fella (keep that in mind, it surfaces later in a wonderful sequence). The Family is essentially a sitcom; while “executive produced” by the great Martin Scorsese it’s certainly not one of his films (even if its as energetic as one). Enjoyable, light and full of character driven comedy, when The Family works, it works beautifully.
Screening: AMC Maple Ridge, Regal Elmwood, Regal Walden Galleria, Regal Quaker Crossing, Dipson Flix, Regal Transit, Regal Hollywood 12, Transit Drive-In
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