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The Family Man (2000)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 5.5/10
Reviews Counted: 127
Fresh: 67 | Rotten: 60

Despite good performances by Cage and especially by Leoni, The Family Man is too predictable and derivative to add anything new to the Christmas genre. Also, it sinks under its sentimentality.

Average Rating: 4.7/10
Critic Reviews: 31
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 20

Despite good performances by Cage and especially by Leoni, The Family Man is too predictable and derivative to add anything new to the Christmas genre. Also, it sinks under its sentimentality.

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Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 175,467

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Movie Info

In this whimsical romantic comedy that recalls It's a Wonderful Life, Nicolas Cage plays Jack Campbell, a workaholic bachelor who gets to see what his life might have been like had he stayed with his old sweetheart, Kate (Tea Leoni). Thirteen years before, Jack accepted a brokerage internship that marred his relationship with Kate, under the promise that they would only be separated one year. But much later, Jack has become an urban Wall Street exec with no wife or family of his own, and a

PG-13, 2 hr. 5 min.

Drama, Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Comedy

Directed By: Brett Ratner

Written By: David Diamond, David Weissman

In Theaters: Dec 22, 2000 Wide

On DVD: Jul 17, 2001

Box Office:$73.7M

Universal Pictures

The Family Man Trailer & Photos

Cast

Nicolas Cage
Jack Campbell
T�a Leoni
Kate
Don Cheadle
Cash
Jeremy Piven
Arnie
Saul Rubinek
Alan Mintz
Josef Sommer
Lassiter
Makenzie Vega
Annie
Ryan Milkovich
Josh
Jake Milkovich
Josh
Lisa Thornhill
Evelyn
Harve Presnell
Big Ed
Mary Beth Hurt
Adelle
Amber Valletta
Paula
Francine York
Lorraine
John O'Donohue
Tony the Doorman
Daniel Whitner
Frank the Security Man
Tarri Markel
Neighbor/Party Guest
Kate Walsh
Paul Sorvino
Tom McGowan
Troy Hall

Critic Reviews for The Family Man

All Critics (130) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (68) | Rotten (61) | DVD (19)

A series of moments, sentimental and comic, that never do add up to a coherent fable.

March 22, 2002 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail

| Comment

Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

Top Critic

The outsize ticky tackiness of Jack's new life has been stitched together out of the broadest possible series of middle American clich�s.

December 22, 2000 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly

| Comment

Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Top Critic

Too much of the movie is pure formula nonsense.

December 22, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Stephen Hunter

Washington Post

Top Critic

It's the sort of steamroller seasonal entertainment calculated to make us average folks out here feel temporarily warm and happy about our averageness.

December 22, 2000 Full Review Source: Toronto Star

| Comment

Geoff Pevere

Toronto Star

Top Critic

The absolute choices it forces on its hapless hero are far too mutually exclusive to be credible.

December 22, 2000 Full Review Source: Detroit News

| Comment

Susan Stark

Detroit News

Top Critic

Ratner, to his credit, gets the job done and makes it bearable.

December 22, 2000 Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee

| Comment

Joe Baltake

Sacramento Bee

Top Critic

Pleasant movie despite some predictability.

December 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comment

Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Ratner isn't a capable enough director to work the alchemy needed to make this cheese into gold.

February 15, 2010 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com

| Comment

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

Leoni is a revelation. Vibrant and gorgeous, she plays her role of the determined mother in love with teasing, salty charm, providing just enough grit to save the film from Ratner's slushy direction.

September 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

A hunk of sentimental fluff that boasts an often-overstated performance by Cage and an annoying turn by Leoni.

December 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer

| Comment

Robert Denerstein

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

It's rare that an American movie lets slip such a snobbish distaste for the humdrum lives of its blue-collar audience base, but of course it doesn't last.

January 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Time Out

I voted for the happy ending, thusly, my enjoyment was diminished.

December 31, 2005 Full Review Source: Supercala.com

| Comment

John Venable

Supercala.com

If you're looking for a heartfelt, feel-good holiday movie, just give in and enjoy.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat

| Comment

Chris Gore

Film Threat

One of the few films this season able to offer something likely to entertain almost everyone.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat

| Comment

Susannah Breslin

Film Threat

The makers of The Family Man were trying to do a kind of reverse It's a Wonderful Life without ever realizing that it doesn't work on paper, much less on the screen.

June 5, 2003 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Redeems itself with raw emotion and the evocative force of love.

May 14, 2003 Comment

Jeanne Aufmuth

Palo Alto Weekly

A holiday film Joe Lieberman could love, unembarrassed by its wholesome, sugary pro-family message.

March 10, 2003 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle

| Comment

Marrit Ingman

Austin Chronicle

Cage's delivery of the Big Final Speech is strained and uncomfortable, and the film's ending is unsatisfying, offering a conflicted message and only a meager chance of hope.

February 8, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Quips Online

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John R. McEwen

Film Quips Online

Perfect feel-good Christmas-period family entertainment. Highly recommended.

October 30, 2002 Full Review Source: ViewLondon

| Comment

Matthew Turner

ViewLondon

Cage and Leoni are cute together and struggle mightily, but they can't overcome this sinking ship of a script by David Diamond and David Weissman that telegraphs the ending in the first 20 minutes.

October 21, 2002 Full Review Source: San Diego Metropolitan

| Comment

Jean Lowerison

San Diego Metropolitan

There is not a lot wrong with The Family Man, except for an almost total lack of surprise and a nasty attitude toward exactly the people who are supposed to pay money to watch it.

October 15, 2002 Full Review Source: Cincinnati Enquirer

| Comment

Margaret A. McGurk

Cincinnati Enquirer

Okay, so this is kinda corny but hey, it's a Christmas movie, what do you expect? Plus, it's so well done that it doesn't matter that it's formulaic and not very deep.

September 10, 2002 Full Review Source: Montreal Film Journal

| Comment

Kevin N. Laforest

Montreal Film Journal

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Family Man

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Good storyline and a great film with Nicolas Cage making a great 'Family Man' character. A must see!

June 23, 2011

Bethany Murphy

Super Reviewer

Corporate raider and hedonist playboy Nicolas Cage wakes up one morning to find himself living the life he would have led if he'd not chosen his career over an old girlfriend. In other words:1 Cage wakes up surrounded by kids and associated mess2 Runs around shocked by the fact that all his rich pals don't recognise

April 28, 2007