Directed by: Luc Besson
Starring: Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron, John D’Leo
Rated R, 111 minutes
I assume that, throughout film history, there have always been movies that were scandalously violent for the time period when they were released, movies that would, years later, seem comparatively tame. “The Family” is that sort of movie, but the sort of violence Luc Besson (“Léon: The Professional”) resorts to is such a tasteless exaggeration, using Tarantinoesque bloodshed as casually as conversational banter, that I wonder what could possibly come next.
Ostensibly a comedy, “The Family” shows the absurd struggles of the Manzoni family, renamed as the Blakes and relocated by the Witness Protection Program to northern France. This isn’t the first time they’ve been relocated, though, and we soon learn why. Fred Blake (Robert De Niro, “GoodFellas”), the patriarch of the family, is an ex-mafioso who never really gave up his bullying, order-maintaining ways. His wife, Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer, “Scarface”), is equally brutal and easily set off. Their kids are even worse – their son Warren (John D’Leo, “The Wrestler”) is a conniving entrepreneur, and their daughter Belle (Dianna Agron, TV’s “Glee”) is an overly emotional femme fatale. Together, the four are as inconspicuous as a rhino in a library.
Inevitably, this becomes a serious problem, since the mobsters that Fred ratted out have put a hit out on the Manzonis. There’s only so much help the Witness Protection officers can provide when Maggie blows up grocery stores and Fred pummels the plumber and the kids wreak havoc on their schoolmates. Meanwhile, the Manzonis are just continuing with their daily lives; Fred’s thinking about trying his hand at writing, Belle is discovering love, and so on. They continuously shrug off the trouble they get into, knowing they can get themselves out of it – until, that is, it becomes excessive even for them.
Of course, that means little to us, since their antics are excessive from the beginning. It’s hard to get behind a family that takes pleasure in beating others to within an inch of their lives. So it’s an achievement that Besson manages to create some sympathy for them at all. A surprisingly well suited cast helps; De Niro, of course, is no stranger to mobster roles, but Pfeiffer and D’Leo take to the roles comfortably and create a good family dynamic. Agron is a weak spot, but this may be a matter of writing – there’s a certain level of clichéd melodrama to her romantic subplot, which is shrugged off as readily as the movie’s violence.
I’m thankful, though, that we ignore the more dramatic aspects of the Manzonis’ lives. The movie plays at a fast clip and is edited with a keen eye for visually interesting storytelling, so it would be saddled with anything more than a superficial exploration of the characters’ emotions. At least, that’s how it feels like the script has been written – too snappy and nonchalant to support genuine emotion. Whether you consider that a flaw depends on your preferences, I think.
Regardless, the script is lacking in various other places. Co-written by Besson, the story awkwardly dawdles between depicting the status quo for the Manzonis and progressing the plot; the two look so similar that it becomes a confusing task for us to figure out where the movie is going and why. By the end, the climax and resolution are almost arbitrary, and the characters have progressed very little from where they started out.
Such an end is unsettling. The implication is that history will repeat itself, with nary a consequence for either the Manzonis or their enemies. That could be Besson making a point about violence and destruction and perhaps, more loftily, about human nature in general. But the statement is overblown and unnecessarily harsh for a comedic setting. Instead of throwing punches, “The Family” brutally goes for the cheap shot, and in doing so leaves us unsatisfied and confused.
Originally published in The Harvard Press on 9/20/13.