The Family

Starring: Robert De Niro, Michelle Pheiffer, & Tommy Lee Jones

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Getting into the Witness Protection Program was the easy part, staying there is what's hard, in the latest Luc Besson comedy, The Family. With huge star power and a well known Director, this film had all the makings of a classic, unfortunately it has some major plot holes and lacks direction. One moment it seems like you're watching a comedy, that is about to break out, but then in the blink of an eye it's a drama, addressing difficult issues. The big tagline is that the Manzoni family is in hiding, and can't seem to behave themselves, but it's a lot more than that. The FBI has decided to place this Italian, Brooklyn mob family in the south of France. Even if their behavior wasn't outlandish, how is a Brooklyn family supposed to fit into a small village in France? They would naturally stand out like a sore thumb. Besides the obvious plot holes, other things are left out of the equation, the most glaring being the back story behind the families joining the program. While the story is all over the place, the film does feature a truly all-star cast and trust me, they help. If this wasn't De Niro, Jones, and Pheiffer, the film would have completely fallen apart and failed to hold my interest. The fact is that these are some the best actors in the world and they all do a tremendous job of keeping the audiences attention. There isn't much of a story here and it's nowhere near as funny as it was advertised to be, but big names and great performances fill seats in the theaters and that should have been this films hook. I'm not sure if the Family was a drama or some kind of dark comedy that I just didn't get, but aside from the terrific performances from an all-star cast, I was highly disappointed by this film.