Runtime: 1 hour, 51 minutes
Rating: R
Director: Luc Besson
Quick Impressions:
Back in college, my friends and I all went to see Luc Besson’s The Messenger. I may have been the only one who liked it—in the entire world.
(No, just kidding. But I do remember the film getting poor—really more like baffled—reception. Even star Milla Jovovich seemed eager to distance herself from the project. Divorcing the director is a pretty sure sign you think the star vehicle he put together for you was a horrendous failure.)
The thing is, I’d been quite taken with Milla Jovovich ever since a childhood obsession with The Night Train to Kathmandu, and I spent all of junior high so obsessed with Joan of Arc that I never passed on any book or movie about the Maid of Orleans. So of course, I was excited about The Messenger, and even though the movie indulged in more unexpected tonal shifts than a slam poet racing a stock car (seriously, only a crazy, mixed metaphor can accurately describe the out-of-control tone of that movie), I still had a great time watching Besson’s take on France’s most controversial patron saint.
(The only downside was that Joan’s bizarre Christ hallucinations terrified me. I showered at night, and for months, I’d hesitate to leave my dorm room, terrified that the bloodied arms of “Scary Jesus” would slide underneath the gap from the next shower and grab me, or that his eerily expressionless face would appear in the window, moments before his eyes darted over to meet mine.
One night, my roommate insisted, “Hurry up! Go take a shower.”
I countered, “What if Scary Jesus comes?”
“He won’t,” she reassured me, adding, “And if he does, I’ll beat him up.”
“Thanks,” I said, genuinely grateful. “You’re so nice.”
She rolled her eyes and muttered sarcastically, “Yes, I’m so nice, I would beat up Jesus.”)
If you’re wondering what I’m getting at here, it’s this. Luc Besson makes really weird, disturbing movies. Even the good ones are weird. I mean, Milla Jovovich was great as The Fifth Element, but some of the other elements in that film were decidedly off the wall. (That suits me fine. I write weird books. I like to see off-the-wall stuff out there making money. It gives me hope. But I get the impression it sometimes gives other viewers panic attacks and nausea.)
At least, the movies Besson directs are all rather strange. He’s a much more prolific writer than a director, and films that give him less creative control perhaps not so coincidentally also involve markedly less weirdness. Weird’s not always bad, of course, and even when it is, bad weird is better than bad boring.
So I really thought I knew what I was getting myself into with The Family. I expected a movie with some winning qualities—maybe even isolated moments of brilliance—but a pronounced disregard for tonal cohesion. Maybe it will be too weird, I thought. Maybe
it will be pulled in so many directions that it will start to bore me. Oh well, at least I’ll get to review a bad movie for a change. Then people will see once and for all that I don’t love
everything!
But guess what? Luc Besson spoiled my fun. The Family is great. Not only is the tone consistent (weird, yes, but consistent), the film is always entertaining, start to finish. In fact, when it was over, my husband declared, “That’s one I’d like to own,” and I agree. What a surprise!
The Good:
Now mind you, I’m not claiming that The Family is not very strange. So when you go to see the movie based on this favorable review and then find that it’s very strange, don’t blame me. I’m also not claiming that everyone will like it. But I did (and so did my husband).
Here’s why.
As far as I’m concerned, this is consistently a black comedy. The violence is always graphic (though the worst of it is not always depicted onscreen), and the gallows humor is pervasive. I don’t understand why some people think this film is trying (and failing) to be a drama. It is never a drama. It’s always a comedy. Just accept that. It’s a dark comedy about an extremely dysfunctional and violent family just trying to make it through another day with minimal killing and zero being killed.
This family is by no means moral (at least by no conventional means), but in a bizarre twist they manage to be uncannily likable and extremely watchable. This is the genius of the
movie.
Think of The Addams Family. Decidedly weird. Completely unconventional. Objectionable by ordinary standards. Still the protagonists. Still, engaging, likable protagonists. Look at the Griswolds from the Vacation series. All they do is travel the world making jackasses of themselves (particularly Clark), but the audience still roots for them, still wants to see how their adventures turn out. Homer Simpson is a buffoon, Bart’s a budding sociopath, Lisa’s annoyingly self-righteous, Marge is a moaning enabler, and Maggie’s a killer. But we don’t watch The Simpsons hoping that the family will fall off a cliff and die or something. Despite their glaring flaws, we sympathize with these odd families and get easily engaged in their onscreen adventures.
And that’s what we’re supposed to do with the Blake (aka Manzoni) family, too. At least, that’s what I think.
Now, I’ll admit, it’s not like I’m personal friends with Luc Besson or anything. It’s not like I can call him up and ask, “So what were you trying to do with this film?” I mean, it’s entirely possible that despite all appearances, he was trying to make a serious crime drama, and he failed. But regardless of his intentions, what he has succeeded in making is a black comedy.
Much of the humor lies in the unlikely premise. Now don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying that the basic plot of the movie is terribly original. We’ve seen all kinds of relocated government witness movies and fish-out-of-water movies and even mobsters-working-with-the-government movies before. In that way, the movie is not original. But this family faces a rather odd predicament. They haven’t been relocated just once, and they aren’t being moved time and again simply because somebody’s hunting them. Yes the father ratted out the family and needs government protection, but their ongoing problems stem
from a far more vexing (and unlikely) complication—not one single member of the family can stop committing heinous violent crimes, not even for one single day. All four of these people behave like total sociopaths when crossed, and yet, when they’re together, they’re so loving and happy, such a charming, functional family unit.
So you see, the movie we’re watching isn’t trying to be a serious crime drama. It’s trying to be The Addams Family with an Italian Mafia twist. Belle beating somebody half-to-death with a tennis racket and then offering sweet advice while looking composed and cherubic is really no different from Wednesday Addams strapping her brother in an electric chair and announcing, “We’re going to play a game. It’s called, ‘Is there a God?’” (Mind you, I’m not claiming that the movie adaptation of The Addams Family was universally well received, but nobody thought that the film was trying to be a serious thriller about psychologically damaged people and failing.)
This movie is never a drama. When Giovanni begins to type his memoirs and looks back on his life with nostalgia and regret, it’s no different from Gomez wondering what happened to the old Fester and lamenting that his long lost brother has lost his sense of fun. Just because something is a drama for the characters doesn’t mean it’s a drama for the audience.
I think audiences are getting confused and trying to watch a different movie from the one that’s there. Katharine Hepburn once shared that while making the screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby, she first tried to make her character seem wacky and strange. Howard Hawks suggested she talk to some of the more seasoned comedians in the cast who advised her to play the role completely straight, completely seriously. Susan Vance is experiencing a drama, but the audience is watching a screwball comedy, nonetheless.
Now some people may say, “Fine. So it’s a comedy. But I didn’t think it was very funny.”
That’s a legitimate complaint. Not everybody is going to like this movie. My husband and I noticed ourselves laughing conspicuously more than the other people in the theater (and he laughed even more often than I did, which doesn’t usually happen). Even when it’s working, this really isn’t a movie that makes you laugh out loud every single second. In fact, often what’s funniest is the unlikely situation. Sometimes the material that forces us to step back and turn it over in our minds for a minute turns out to be the funniest stuff of all.
So the movie isn’t always a giggle-a-minute laugh riot. (In fact, it’s never that.) But it is consistently entertaining.
Quite honestly, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, start to finish. I expected pacing problems or odd, alienating scenes. But no.
The cast is so strong, such a pleasure to watch, and the characters have such unlikely likability that the whole movie passes very pleasantly. I never got bored even once.
For me the highlight of the movie was Michelle Pfieffer. Every time her name or face comes up at home, my mother says (reliable as Old Faithful), “Michelle Pfieffer is just so beautiful. I think some people are just naturally beautiful, and Michelle Pfieffer is one of them.”
Mom and I often disagree about movie-related matters, but I’m with her there. Even at 55, Pfieffer is gorgeous, stunning. And it’s not just that she has a beautiful face. She knows how to use it. What an actress! Without saying a word, she can turn in an engrossing, amazing performance. I loved her as Catwoman. I love her in everything. I’m not sure why she doesn’t get more awards recognition (though it is true that in Hollywood, beauty often
masks talent.) In recent years, Pfieffer has been turning up in sizeable supporting roles (often as the villain) rather than in the lead, and like every time she almost single-handedly makes the movie. She is absolutely fabulous here. I felt energy leaping out into the
audience like lightning every single instant she was on the screen.
Of course, it goes without saying that Robert De Niro is also good. I don’t understand why people sometimes claim he can no longer act simply because he enjoys appearing in goofy comedies. How ridiculous! Go watch Silver Linings Playbook. De Niro remains a gifted, dependable dramatic actor no many how abysmally silly comedies he signs on for! Besides, half the time, people ridicule him for movies that aren’t even actually bad. (Like Stardust!
That lovely little Neil Gaiman adaptation really did not get the love it deserved.
Michelle Pfieffer’s in that one, too! Both of them are fabulous, and despite not making a gazillion dollars, Stardust was much better than what some people say.) Anyway, in this movie, like Pfieffer’s Maggie, De Niro’s Fred/Giovanni experiences the adventures we see as a comedy largely as a drama, though he does have a penchant for appreciating how funny life can sometimes be.
What I did not expect is such strong performances from their fabulous kids. Both Belle and Warren are far more interesting characters than I would have imagined, and their dynamic together is highly watchable. Despite their criminal tendencies, the two make a lovable pair with great chemistry. They’re totally believable as brother and sister, and I loved both Dianna Argon and John D’Leo, two performers I’ve never even noticed before. (Glee remains one of many wildly popular shows I’ve never gotten into, and I know nothing about D’Leo whatsoever.) I particularly enjoyed the kids’ discussion of their father’s favorite word, something that kept coming up again and again as the film went on.
Tommy Lee Jones doesn’t do anything revelatory here, but he’s in the movie, and when you’re talking about an actor of his caliber, that’s enough. I also liked the guys who were keeping watch over the family in the house across the street, Jimmy Palumbo and (especially) Domenick Lombardozzi. I really liked Lombardozzi, though I don’t remember noticing him ever before. (I’ve never seen The Wire, either.) (If you’re wondering what I do watch, this week it’s been mainly Doc McStuffins, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and PAW
Patrol.)
Best Scene:
Though it’s seen in previews, so it’s not a total surprise, I absolutely adored Maggie’s first visit to the market. Maggie’s scenes were always my favorites in this movie simply because Pfieffer has such a captivating face and so thoroughly commits to the character.
An even better scene, though, actually comes later when Maggie criticizes her husband about the plumbing problem, and he responds by taking her to task about how she’s handled the grocery shopping. Good grief this scene was hilarious! Though I enjoyed the entire movie, I didn’t actually laugh out loud that often, but boy did I laugh here!
De Niro and Pfieffer are fantastic together.
Best Action Sequence:
My husband loved (I mean loved) the part with the tennis racket.
Probably best for me was the big show down at the end. Everyone’s involved, but my favorite scene was the rescue of Maggie simply because my heart kept rooting for the Blake family, and my head kept protesting, “Really? Think about what you’re saying! I know you love them for some reason, but they’re awful, guilty people!”
Best Scene Visually:
Tonight I realized that I have an obsession with close-ups of male faces. All year long, my eye has been drawn to shots that show a close-up of a distinctive male face (filling the frame vertically) in the far corner of the screen with interesting scenery in the near distance accounting for the rest of the shot. There’s a shot like this of Warren on the
train platform that I absolutely loved.
Another visually stunning moment that really leaves an impression is the movie’s one sex scene. (At least, if there’s another sex scene, I don’t remember it. I mean the one that involves a white dress covered in flamingos.)
This scene really surprised me because I so enjoyed watching it. That sounds odd, I suppose. But the thing is, lately sex scenes in movies often leave me cold. They just don’t make an impression. They seem so by-the-numbers, obligatory, uninspiring.
But this one’s different.
Trying to articulate my impressions to my husband on the drive home, I suddenly realized, “I think it’s because of the female pleasure.” Clearly in this scene, the woman involved is transported by rapture. She’s very in the moment. She both wants and loves the sex she’s having.
Maybe this feels so different to me because Besson is French, and there’s something here that doesn’t feel very American. I just know that in so many movies, we get this long buildup of steamy, scintillating seduction, and then when the sex actually happens, it’s like, “Meh. We knew this was coming. Whatever. Now it’s happened.”
I haven’t thought about this much until tonight, but now I think that recently, sex scenes have gotten less alluring. (Often they’re not even there anymore. When I was a kid back in the eighties, women were always dancing around topless, and people were throwing each other into bed left and right. There was always something going on in movies that I either wasn’t supposed to be seeing or, in fact, wasn’t actually getting to see.)
There’s such sensuality and unabashed joy in this moment (probably the more so because the joy is derived from a kind of desperation). The last time I remember seeing a sex scene that seemed so sensual, so real was in Enemy at the Gates (and I haven’t seen that movie in so long, I can’t even remember the scene now).
Anyway, this surprisingly sensual, natural, exuberant, elegant, joyous moment really made a positive impression on me.
The Negatives:
I really enjoyed The Family, but it is not a movie I would recommend without reservation to anyone. I can assure you that I liked it, but I certainly can’t promise that you will.
Some people will find it funny. Others won’t. Really this basic rule applies to every scene. Some people will find a violent moment hilarious. Others will deem it upsetting and unnecessary. Some will smile knowingly at the film-within-a-film. Others will rage, “All that does is make us wish we were watching that movie instead! This movie sucks.”
So I really can’t recommend the film whole heartedly, even to people I know. Instead I’ve got to caution you to enter at your own risk. (But there is potential of a relatively high reward, and risk is diminished considerably for people who are big fans of any member of the principal cast. All the stars have good parts and lots of well utilized screen time.)
But though enjoyable, The Family definitely is not perfect. For one thing, in terms of plot, it has definite limitations. It presents us a clearly exaggerated reality, a world where uncanny (really unbelievable) circumstances can bring people together and force a climax. Really, beyond the broad set-up of a mob family under government protection, nothing about the premise is even remotely plausible. The Warrens are a pretty weird family, with oddly ungovernable impulses given their loving bond with each other. And telling a story about a mob family in protection in the first place covers pretty familiar narrative ground. (Covers it with what is another question altogether, of course, but nevertheless, the ground covered is familiar.)
Personally, I was disappointed that we never learned more about the Giovanni’s actual backstory. He hinted repeatedly that his memoir contained a truth never before told. We were primed so often about that back yard barbecue that I expected something more to come of it in the end. Also, there’s definitely some mysterious secret shared by De Niro’s and Jones’s characters that never gets openly discussed and resolved. In that aspect, the ending is disappointing.
Still even the last lines of the movie made my husband and me chuckle softly. No we never really got a deeper look into who Giovanni truly is—or did we? Is that what the whole movie’s actually been about? Maybe it’s hard for people to describe themselves honestly, hard even to know themselves. Maybe The Family is actually asking us to try to reconcile what Giovanni has said in defense of himself with what he has unwittingly shown us of himself in the film.
Overall:
Luc Besson’s The Family is very, very weird, but I would expect nothing less (nothing normal) from Luc Besson. To my surprise, though the film is dark and strange (gallows humor, through and through), this Mafia-themed variation on The Addams Family kept me completely entertained and (to be honest) won my heart.
As the film drew to a close, I found myself strangely drawn to this odd but endearing Family, and I’d be happy to watch their further adventures in a sequel (not that they’ll make another one, of course. Judging by critical reception so far, Besson will be lucky if they don’t burn this one.)
Still, if you like well cast black comedies, why not give The Family a shot? (But if you hate it, don’t come crying to me. Remember, I told you it was weird.)