Review of The Family Man (2000) by Jess R — 31 Mar 2010

A really touching and sweet movie; Jack and Kate have really great chemistry together. My first big complaint is that the reason for Jack being sent into his alternate reality was way too contrived and uncalled for.

My second big complaint is that the movie seems to preach way too much for the family life, as if that's the only "proper" way to live. While the movie does show the good and bad of both lifestyles, it seems to want us to assume that Jack had a lonely and unhappy life when he was single when the movie never shows us any evidence of that - indeed, in his real, single life he seems quite happy and content with both his career and with the female company he can enjoy with no strings attached.

He was only lonely and unhappy AFTER he saw his alternate family life, which is a no-brainer - give someone something good and then take it away, of course they're gonna be unhappy afterwards. I guess that was the point of the movie - that Jack didn't know what he was missing until he got a "glimpse" of it - but it begs the question: if Jack wasn't unhappy about his lack of family prior to the glimpse, SHOULD he have been? The movie rather arrogantly and sanctimoniously tells us yes.