Review of The Family (2013) by James W — 31 Mar 2014

Luc Besson is one of my favourite directors, I've seen many of his movies and I love his action sequences and his ability to throw in humour without undermining the story. In The Family, Besson settles down aiming for big laughs and a solid injection of action, and the mix is superb although that solid injection I mentioned is rather short lived but it's easy to overlook when the cast are a blast to watch.

Robert DeNiro and Michelle Pfieffer started years back in the gangster/crime genre, the parts they play here, Gio and Maggie, echo back to some of their older movies but with added humour and a more upbeat tone.

Dianna Agron is sweet as well as a total badass, and John D'Leo is genuinely a younger DeNiro, slick and unfathomably cool. These four leads are exceptional, the habits and old ways break back into their lives, the highlight watching Pfieffer walk away as she destroys the town supermarket, flinching as it goes up with a bang.

I highly recommend this movie, top direction and very entertaining.