K-SCORE: 80
Writer/Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tommy Lee Jones, Dianna Agron, John D’Leo
“ this isn’t Full House meets Goodfellas”
Spoiler Level: Minor
The Family is a bit slow, but quite good, so I can’t understand why it flew under the radar. Robert De Niro plays the father of a family that is in witness protection because he’d been a mob boss who ratted people out to avoid jail time. Set in Normandy, France, the family struggles to adjust while simultaneously being hunted by mafia hitmen. The conflict is fine and leads to a satisfying if twistless conclusion, but it’s more about the characters, the outlines of whom are exquisitely colored in with isolated amusing scenes.
My favorite aspect though is that, unlike most family movies, the mother, father, sister, and brother all communicate very well, so it isn’t just about inevitably remembering through hardship that they love each other. The story means different things for each character and the togetherness is just an important element. In other words, this isn’t Full House meets Goodfellas. This is Goodfellas with a family of four high-quality characters.