Originally marketed under the name Malavita, The Family sees Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer as the parents of the Manzoni family, hiding in France under assumed names (Blake being the latest), under the watchful eye of Tommy Lee Jones and the FBI witness protection programme.
One assumes The Family is meant to be a comedy, or at least a farce. But, very few of the setups really deliver. This is especially the case with the subplots involving the Manzoni/Blake’s two teenage children, played by Dianna Agron (best known for her role on Glee) and John D’Leo (also known for TV roles on Law & Order: SVU and How to Make It in America). And, while calling the family dog “Malavita” (pidgin Latin for bad life), it’s yet another joke that doesn’t land to name the film the same.
Luc Bresson’s direction perhaps best explains why The Family looks better than it feels and only really finds its rhythm in the build up to each action sequence. Put simply, this film lacks the verve and menace to work as a thriller and lacks the imagination and timing to work as a comedy.
The storytelling itself lurches too often between the implausible and the incoherent as The Family tries to shoehorn a conventional “crims on the run” plot into shell of a French Pastoral farce. In the end, this disappointing film is not all bad. It has its moments, mostly between De Niro and Agron, but they are too few to warrant a wholehearted recommendation.
