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.
Luc Besson’s The Family is...a mafia comedy that shoots for laughs but mostly ends up firing blanks.
Another to airbrush out of the De Niro back catalogue.
It’s horribly violent, the family are appalling, it’s never believable and far too long.
Beefy, clumsy and smug (and a flop in the US), it can only depress the hell out of us, even though we are long used to De Niro’s post-Meet the Parents comedy-buffoon decline.
Gloopy sentimentality ("you are the best dad anybody could ask for") sits side by side with extreme violence.
Besson has clearly retained his willingness to please, but after an engaging start, The Family doesn’t hold up its end of the deal.
Robert De Niro does further damage to his reputation in this mafia comedy pileup.
Though it’s good to see Michelle Pfeiffer married to the mob again, she alone can’t redeem a lumbering farce that takes an unpleasantly sadistic glee in violence, murder and intimidation.
Quirky nostalgia isn't enough to keep this family together.
Eventually De Niro winds up at the local film society watching Goodfellas – presumably leaving him wondering (as do we) what the hell happened.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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