The Family Reviews

I recommend The Family in the same way I might mint-flavored gum. It's not what you would hope for, but when choosing at random, you'd do worse a little more often than not.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Well cast and sharply directed by Besson, who also co-wrote the script, "The Family" flows easily for the first half.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Writer-director Luc Besson can do much better than this.

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Beware of This Family

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Great chemistry from the cast and the thrilling action made it entertaining for all.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Despite the excessive violence, this is an enjoyable film providing needed escapist entertainment, well directed by Besson with fine performances by all, especially Argon.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10

"Luc Besson has done the seemingly impossible. He's resuscitated the corpse of Robert De Niro's career."

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5

I guess when we get down to it, Pfeiffer's performance is what nudges The Family into the "recommended" category. Barely.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

This is a deliberately off-kilter, cheerfully violent, hit-and-miss effort with just enough moments of inspiration to warrant a recommendation.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

[De Niro]'s been down this road so many times now it's a wonder he isn't hiring himself out for lucrative guest spots doing stand-up for rich children at Goodfellas-themed Chuck E. Cheese birthday parties.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5

The Family offers a solid blend of dark satire, social commentary, off-beat humor, quirky aesthetics, and a decent (albeit unremarkable) amount of substance.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5

Equal parts mean and adorable, and if you can accept that those attitudes aren't mutually exclusive, you'll find it to be one of the better comedies of the year.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10

The Family is a pretty uneven film, lurching from comedy to violence to sentiment, but it's best when it sticks in the realm of flat-out farce.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Funny but imperfect mob comedy has violence, language.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

What sells The Family is its cast; in particular, De Niro and Pfeiffer, who are charming and believable as a couple fluent in each other's faults but still unabashedly in love.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

De Niro and Pfeiffer still married to the mob and very funny.

Full Review | Original Score: B plus

Luc Besson enjoys genre mash-ups that can be outrageous to the point of being deranged. Sometimes that mixture of mayhem, comedy, and sentiment works better than others.

Full Review | Original Score: B

Even the silliest contrivance can be forgiven when De Niro and Jones face off, their craggy, deadpan mugs telling tales all their own.

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It doesn't even try for basic credibility. But buoyed by hot performances, it sustains a zapping electrical energy.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

I am giving it a mild recommendation, because I think the good outweighs the not-so-good. But you have to have a fairly strong stomach for violence to be able to fully enjoy it. (Full Content Review for Parents also available)

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