The Family Man (2000)

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.

Succeeds because of a combination of great performances (Tea Leoni is a real standout), a solid script and an ending that is not exactly what you would expect.

Not much more than a contemporary remix of Scrooged, but it's different enough to keep you awake and hipped-up enough to make you like it.

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

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.

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.

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.

I was disappointed with its overly sentimental tone and rather questionable message. Are married men with children actually more deserving of happiness than single guys? According to this movie, yes.

Even as the writers spin their entertaining suburban legend, there's a lingering feeling perhaps even they don't really stand behind the statement they're trying to make.

¡Demonios!, ¡Y yo que estaba tan bien en mi soltería!