The Family


The Family is a movie about a member of the Italian mafia and his family in the middle of a witness protection program. They are forced to continuously move from place to place around Europe because the family is devious and keeps making trouble around the towns that they reside in. This time, they end up in a little town close to Normandy. The dad, Giovanni played by Robert De Niro, tells the neighbor that he is a writer and ends up starting to write his memoirs about his time in the mob. The movie follows each of the family members individually, giving them each their own little plot until the climax of the movie when everyone comes together. The thing that I liked most about this movie was the characters in the family. They weren’t the usual movie family where the kids don’t like the dad thanks to the fact that they have to move around because of him. They are actually a loving family, with a bunch of violent tendencies. Giovanni justifies it by saying that he’s never been violent against somebody who didn’t deserve it. The son runs around, plotting schemes around the school and the daughter has the same violence as her father. De Niro also always plays a great Italian mobster, while Tommy Lee Jones plays the officer in charge of keeping the family in witness protection. He adds his deadpan brand of comedy to the physical comedy of the other characters, which is a good mix. The Family is a cross between a comedy and a drama, making it hard to classify. If you enjoy mob movies, this might be up your alley. But if you’re looking for a family-friendly film, look elsewhere. The Family is an interesting movie and I would recommend it to anybody who likes physical comedy or old-school mobsters.

Tags: mob, movie review, movies, Robert DeNiro, The Family

Kyle Dowling


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