The Family

The Family (2013)

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R - 111 min - Action, Comedy, Crime - 13 September 2013
Big Blue Sky Rating : 6.5/10

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Director : Luc Besson
Writers : Luc Besson, Michael Caleo
Stars : Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron, John D'Leo

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 CIA Agent Stansfield (Tommy Lee Jones) to keep them in line, Fred Manzoni (Robert De Niro), 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).

Scenes of graphic violence create NO interest if the viewer has no stake in the violence

Wow. This is some of the poorest storytelling I've ever seen in any film. Yeah, the acting is good. But I want to slap the screenwriters. Some of the problems: The protagonists are just as evil as the bad guys. I know it's a mafia movie, but there is NO reason to identify with any of these characters. They're all sociopaths. So I, the viewer, don't care how the conflict is resolved. I have no stake in it.

Lots of violent scenes, but again, the viewer has no stake in the violence. So it's boring. Zero tension, zero suspense.

Subplots that don't relate to the main plot at all. So basically: all of the subplots. Although it's hard to have a good subplot when your main plot is based around a conflict between two equally evil factions.

And the main issue: NO CHARACTER ARC. Basic rule of storytelling is that, because of events, the protagonist must learn some new skill that help him overcome previous failings. By the end of the story there must be a change in the power dynamics. In this movie, all characters are exactly the same at the beginning as they were at the end. Even movies with poorly constructed character arcs and lots of disjointed scenes usually ATTEMPT a change in power dynamics and some sort of character growth. This script is too stupid to even make an attempt.

Skip it, you guys.

Watch The Family Trailer :

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