THE FAMILY (C+)

Bottom Line: Is it worth your hard earned money?  Fuhgeddaboudit!  Played out like an unofficial, witness-protected, first cousin to Martin Scoseses’ GOODFELLAS (with a tinge of Steve Martin’s MY BLUE HEAVEN) – THE FAMILY is a disjointed yet gleefully low-key and ultra-violent look at the dichotomic crossroads of leaving the past behind and old habits dying hard.  DeNiro delivers a loveable, slow burn, stoically foggy, try-and-hold-back-the-rage patriarch, while a fun to watch (and ogle at) Pfeiffer digs her talons in to a juicy, don’t-push-me-to-far-or-I-might-explode, Married-to-the-Mob-ish mama.  The two of them alone are reason enough to recommend this flick…  Still a bit bonkers and tonally challenged in its balance of laughs (could have used more) and bloody kills (could have used less), it remains a refreshing, often charming and darkly comic tale of a family on the run from the mob and, at times, each other.  If you can stomach an occasional bludgeoning and plenty of explosive gun play, then you oughta be witness to THE FAMILY this weekend!

 

Starring: Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron, John D’Leo and Tommy Lee Jones

Directed by: Luc Besson (THE FIFTH ELEMENT and LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL)

Rated: PG-13

Running time: 112 minutes

Story: In the off-beat action comedy "The Family," a mafia boss and his family are relocated to a sleepy town in France under the witness protection program after snitching on the mob. Despite the best efforts of Agent Stansfield (Tommy Lee Jones) to keep them in line, Fred Manzoni (Robert DeNiro), his wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer) and their children Belle (Dianna Agron) and Warren (John D'Leo) can't help but revert to old habits and blow their cover by handling their problems the "family" way, enabling their former mafia cronies to track them down. Chaos ensues as old scores are settled in the unlikeliest of settings in this darkly funny film by Luc Besson (Taken, Transporter). (c) Relativity Media

 

Trailer: www.facebook.com/TheFamilyMovie