MOVIE REIVEW - The Family

The new R-rated action comedy, The Family is out this week with Robert DeNiro, Michelle Phieffer, and Tommy Lee Jones.  Nice cast, for a move that needed a little dressing up.

This movie is a good example of how comedies have to be today. For now, long gone are the PG-13 well written, relatively tame comedies with snappy dialogue and relatable story lines.  Comedies  today are action based, with plenty of violence, with big stars to try to carry the day.  That is what we have here.

Oh don't get me wrong, there are some funny moments in this movie, with a story that will get many originality points here.  This is a funny idea of a former Mafia hit man who ratted out his former Mafia family and is now in the witness protection program and is more than likely the biggest pain the neck that the program has.  He and his family are having a very difficult time giving up the mob life and because of their determination to not stay low-profile, they have to be relocated every 3 months or so.  The mob is trying to find them to kill the entire family including the two teenagers, and the U.S. Government is trying to protect them. 

Although the premise for the most part is one that is fresh, there isn't a great deal of story to go with it.  This really drags at times, and not a little.  There are number of dead spots in this movie that do make it tough to focus in on it.  And it's a bit predictable.  You know the whole time where this will go and what eventually will transpire at the climax.   This movie starts out as a R-rated comedy, and as it goes on, it becomes a bit more dark, and way more violent.  There are also a few very questionable decisions made especially how they handle the teen kids and their role near the end.  The area where the movie is transitioning from comedy, to violent comedy is the dead zone.  What was funny, ironic fun at the beginning loses its charm, and just becomes violent and quite frankly, average.

One of the real observations I came away with is its desperate attempt to be formula.  It is a shame that movies like this in the end all end up looking exactly the same, and have about the same level of average box office success.  This is a good example of a nice premise take the easy way out.  Hire big stars that can legitimize a very average script. Truth is, no DeNiro, no movie or moderate success. 

The Family. Add it to the list of good idea, with a cheap price tag that sells itself out to be average, when it had the potential to be very good.