The Manzoni family, a notorious mafia clan, is relocated to Normandy, France under the witness protection program, where fitting in soon becomes challenging as their old habits die hard (www.imdb.com).
Director: Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, The Lady)
Starring: Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron, John D'Leo, Tommy Lee Jones
The Family, starring Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer, is a comedy without the comedy. The juice is low and the tedium is high, mainly due to repetitive and monotonous music laid over every scene. Imagine Danny Elfman on marijuana. The story is smooth going; Robert de Niro and his wife, son and daughter (Pfieffer, Agron, D'Leo) were a respected family in the Mafia, that is, until he snitches on the Don and selected others. For years they have bounced from location to location, keeping out of reach of those who want him and his family dead. We're with them in rural France, a small town with so little to do. Tommy Lee Jones is the FBI agent 'protecting' them, although they don't need it, as they begin to show us through the middle act. Blending in isn't their forte. Belle (Agron) beats up a high-schooler, Maggie (Pfeiffer) blows up the local convenience shop and Fred (De Niro, who's real name is Giovanni in the film) gets angry with a baseball bat. They are loose cannons, but their out-of-sort habit are not taken full advantage of. The music will grate, the script is on the cusp of mediocrity and the cast are dropped in to placid roles. Of all the films that De Niro stars as a gangster (and there are plenty of them), The Family is not one to start on, unless you're starting from worst to best. It's true that you 'can express the entire range of human emotions with a single word', and that word is 'f**k'.
2.5/5
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