Robert DeNiro has finally returned to what he does best.
After years of squandering in comedic movies like Meet the Parents, The Big Wedding, and New Year's Eve (shudder), the man who grew to fame in mob movies has returned to his roots. He played a long-overdue tough guy in last year's Silver Linings Playbook, but now Robert DeNiro is once again holding a baseball bat and beating people to a pulp.
The Family, a dark dramedy from director Luc Besson (Leon: The Professional, The Fifth Element), is equal parts a love letter to gangster movies and a surprisingly entertaining family saga. The comedy usually falls flat, but overall The Family prevails as good old-fashioned mobster fun.
Robert DeNiro plays Giovanni, a former mob boss who sold out names to the FBI. He and his family, including wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer, another gangster veteran from Scarface and Married to the Mob), daughter Belle (Dianna Agron), son Warren (John D'Leo), and dog Malavita (Emeron), are subsequently thrust into the witness protection protection. However, their failure to adapt to their new lifestyle forces them to move quite frequently, and eventually wind up in a small town in France.
The "Blake's", as they are now called, still live the way the did in the mob: they use violence, extortion, and bribery to get what they want. During their first day in the country, the Blake's manage to take over the local school, blow up a convenience store, and brutalize a plumber. Constantly on the look-out for assassins and their former friends, the Blake's must overcome their own family differences if they ever hope to survive.
Each actor in the Blake family, Emeron included, plays their characters with emotional depth and honest sincerity. That being said, there is practically zero chemistry between DeNiro and Pfeiffer, and the other performers in the film (including an awkward and uncharacteristically uninteresting Tommy Lee Jones) do not impress. Agron and D'Leo do have a good relationship, and their subplots in school are much more interesting than Pfeiffer's failure to adapt to the town.
Besson goes for a dark, bizarre comedy vibe, but most of the jokes fall short. His directional style does not seem to fit the tone of the story. Nevertheless, his admiration for the gangster culture does ultimately soak through, and the insightful flashbacks are notable portions of the narrative. Plus, there are several references to other crime movies throughout the film, some more obvious than others.
The Family will make viewers long for the gangster glory days of Martin Scorsese, but it may prove too gruesome for squeamish viewers. Overall, it's an entertaining mob movie with just a little bit of heart. Plus, it's a heck of a lot of fun to see Robert DeNiro beating the living daylights out of someone.
Welcome home, Bobby.
Three out of five stars.
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