So after seeing the initial trailer for the Family I really wanted to check this out. Robert De Niro & Tommy Lee Jones together had to be something worth seeing, right? So I took the venture out to see it yesterday and I will go through the 10 things I did and didn’t like about the film.

Plot

The Manzoni Family, a notorious mafia clan, is relocated to the city of Normandy France under witness protection. Where fitting in for the family becomes a bit of a challenge and they realize old habits die-hard.

8 Things I Did/Didn’t like about the Family

1. Robert De Niro is still fun to watch in the movies.

You know I really don’t want this guy to ever die. He is such a good actor and in this movie he is such a bad ass. A Mob boss played by De Niro in a movie, that’s a new concept. But I think he did a great job in this movie, it’s just too bad the story wasn’t as good as it good have been.

2. The Supporting cast

Michelle Pfeiffer (Maggie Blake), Dianna Agron (Belle Blake) & John D’Leo (Warren Blake). They all played their roles well and were great assets to the movie. Pfeiffer (who plastic surgery has killed her face) was a lot better than I expected from her in this film to be honest. Agron killed it in this role, a long way from Glee for sure. She was funny, kick ass and as always nice on the eyes. D’Leo who I actually had to IMDB to figure out what the heck he has ever been in, was really good as well.

3. Tommy Lee Jones

Yes I know he was a part of the Supporting Cast but he deserves his own section. He was funny, witty and just a nice addition to this film. The banter between him and De Niro was a pleasure to watch. It really made parts of the movie that shouldn’t have been enjoyable, enjoyable. I feel like if those two would’ve had more on-screen time it could’ve been a much better film.

4. The Movie

Luc Besson had a really good idea going for this movie and at some parts he did a good job, others not so much. It was funny at times, serious at times (maybe too serious) and just boring at times. A near 2 hours film that could’ve been better off at the hour and a half mark, just seemed to go on forever. The middle of this movie was really dull and boring. I think he took an interesting concept and really blew it.

5. The Ending

The Ending took this movie from being a terrible movie to a not that bad of a movie. They did a terrible job at building the movie up and they gave you a really good pay off. It was bad to think afterwards if they would’ve built up the movie good enough to match the good finish you really could have a solid film.

6. The Action

Some really fun action in this film. All 4 members of “the Family” had a fun turn at how they were either going to kill or injury a person in this movie. It was great to watch and very funny as well.

7. Domenick Lombardozzi

He gets his own section because he is from the Wire. Nothing spectacular from him in this but it was nice to see him in the movie.

8. My Favorite Scene

My favorite scene (outside the ending) was “The BBQ party” where they invited the neighborhood over for a special BBQ. Without giving up the spoilers this was a fun part of the movie.

The Verdict

** ½ out 5

The movie really had its ups and downs for me. The story itself was pretty solid and the acting was A+ but they middle of the movie seemed to drag on forever. De Niro still is money and makes the movie watchable for sure. I wouldn’t recommend a theater visit for this move, it felt more like a movie you could catch on RedBox.