Luc Besson has produced, written and directed some of the most entertaining and fast-paced films of the last two decades, including Leon: the professional; Taken (and its sequel); The fifth element; Y the transporter Serie. However, even with a track record like that, it’s possible to fail, and unfortunately, The family misses the target.
The story centers on Brooklyn mobster Fred Blake/Givoanni Manzoni (Robert DeNiro) who, after surviving a near-hit, turns over evidence that imprisons high-ranking mobster Don Luchese (Stan Carp) and forces Manzoni, his wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer), and the children Belle (Dianna Agron) and Warren (John D’Leo), in witness protection in Normandy, France, under new identities. Each member of the renamed “Blake” family is amoral in their own right, and due to their own individual criminal shenanigans, they are regularly relocated much to the dismay of FBI agent and handler Robert Stansfield (Tommy Lee Jones).
It sounds like a typical “culture shock” story, but given the film’s artistic pedigree (Besson writes a story with the help of screenwriter Michael Caleo, with the entire enterprise overseen by producer Martin Scorsese, who knows a thing or two about mobsters) one would expect the premise to receive an interesting overhaul. However, the entire film is woefully disjointed. It’s not that it’s not nice; it’s just not inspired.
In the past, Besson has deftly juggled humor, dark or otherwise, with action and suspense, as any of the aforementioned films can attest. However, here those tonal changes are jarring. The comedy, while effective in parts, stems primarily from the actors and the audience’s familiarity with them and, more importantly, their acting “quirks”. DeNiro is essentially playing DeNiro. Mrs. Pfieffer essentially reuses her married to the mob character, though he manages to give Maggie a little more dick than she would The sopranos’ Carmela Soprano breaks up. Tommy Lee Jones seems to be on autopilot these days, playing Stansfield as a washed-out Samuel Gerard. The Fugitive / US Marshalls. Not to say they’re not enjoyable to watch, but there’s almost an underlying boredom to their performances which, combined with the “push, shove, wink, wink” concept, creates a sense of “going through the motions” that makes you it makes you realize that you’ve not only seen this before (especially given the reference to another Scorsese movie that’s practically televised to the audience before *** is mentioned), but that you’ve seen it better.
Surprisingly, it is the young actors Agron and D’Leo who stand out in the film. They both start out as ordinary “too cool for school” teenagers, but grow in an extremely visceral way as the story progresses, so that by the end, they find themselves in a more mature place in their development. They come to realize that the world and the circumstances by which they come to live in it are not a joke. The other supporting artists are so “from memory of a note”, that they hardly deserve a mention. The best that can be said for them is that they adequately serve the story.
Besson seems more interested in the Manzoni/Blake “fish out of water” story, spending two-thirds of the film’s running time exploring it. Thus, the subplot about the bounty on their collective heads and the hit man determined to claim it (an effectively creepy Jon Freda) is almost added and hastily resolved in the climax. However, Besson’s direction elevates the suspense in the film’s climactic moments to lifelike proportions that make you feel like you’re on the edge of your seat. This is where Agron and D’Leo shine in their respective roles, executing a range of conflicting emotions with a surprising amount of self-control. Evgueni and Sacha Galperine’s score is quirky yet colourful, adding to the overall atmosphere of the film. However, given the film’s uneven tone, it also seems disjointed.
no way is it The family a bad movie. It has some nice moments and some good character interaction. However, the shifts in tone, the boredom of the leads, and the overall execution prevent it from being as enjoyable as one might expect given the talent in front of and behind the camera. I never thought I’d see a Luc Besson movie that would deserve a “wait for the cable” designation.
I guess there is a first time for everything.
*** The script is based on a story called “Malavita”, which was also called “Badfellas”.
