I’m actually a big fan of Dianna Agron from her GLEE days. So it’s no surprise that I wanted to check out “The Family”.
The Family revolves around former mafia family, the Maznonis who have relocated from Brookyn to Normandy in France under the witness protection program. Together they must embrace their new identities and start a new life, but old habits seem to die hard.
Robert De Niro, Tommy Lee Jones and Michelle Pfeiffer are no strangers to the screen and display their legendary stellar talents that they have been made famous for. John D’Leo and Dianna Agron are also good in this film playing the children of the relocated mafia family.
Although I enjoyed this film, it is flawed. The Family is just good, not fantastic. The reason why I don’t rate this film high is due to the lack of character development. A clever plot idea can only go so far and films need character development in order to really connect with audiences. I found that whilst I was aware of the characters’ situations, I only knew of their trials, I did not actually know them. So when the film ended, I felt like I was still getting to know the characters and that the movie abruptly stopped before I could really connect. Even after 111 minutes of film, the characters were at most still strangers to me. I wanted to love this movie, but I cannot love what I don’t know.
I would not stir people away from viewing this. If you are curious, you may as well have a look – just don’t expect to be impressed. The actors are not at fault as it is the writing that lets the film down. The Family is a solid entertaining flick, but is missing so many ingredients which could have made it great.