If there’s one role that Robert de Niro is easily associated with, it’s that of a gangster. A Mafioso to be exact. A made man in that genre, de Niro has moved on to other roles in the decades since he popped up in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, but it’s always welcome to see him back in a gangster role.
Except this time, he’s on the run, and he’s got his entire dysfunctional family with along for the ride.
A mafia boss and his family are relocated to a sleepy town in France under the witness protection program after snitching on the mob. Despite the best efforts of Agent Stansfield to keep them in line, Fred Manzoni, his wife Maggie and their children Belle and Warren can’t help but revert to old habits and blow their cover by handling their problems the “family” way, enabling their former mafia cronies to track them down.
The Family looks like a decent fun film, and a bit of departure for director Luc Besson. It’s comedy, but violent comedy at that. And seeing a fish out of water flick wherein the leads actually strike back is kind of refreshing. And for a movie that stars the likes of de Niro and Tommy Lee Jones, it looks like Michelle Pfeiffer and the kids are going to steal the show.
The Family is out in September, and also stars Dianna Agron and John D’Leo.