Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
After ratting out his Mafia cohorts, Giovanni Manzoni and his family enter the Witness Protection Program and relocate to a sleepy town in France. Despite the best efforts of their handler to keep them in line, Giovanni (now called Fred Blake), his wife and children can't help but resort to doing things the "family" way. However, their dependence on such old habits places everyone in danger from vengeful mobsters.
The Family is a moderately entertaining crime comedy that blends fish-out-of-water culture clash with mob humor, but never fully commits to either tone. The plot is fairly formulaic — a Witness Protection setup we've seen many times — and the story meanders before a chaotic but unsatisfying finale. Luc Besson directs with competence, and the Normandy setting is pleasant enough cinematographically, though nothing particularly distinctive. Robert De Niro and Michelle Pfeiffer bring genuine star power and charm to roles that essentially play on their established personas, keeping the acting above average. The ending devolves into broad action-comedy mayhem that feels rushed and unearned. Overall a watchable but unremarkable genre exercise that doesn't distinguish itself meaningfully from similar fare.