Howdy do, everyone, Papa Vinyard here.
On the heels of the release of that poster we got earlier today, Relativity's released a trailer for the English-language, French-produced, Luc Besson-directed THE FAMILY that makes it seem like quite a bit of fun. After a cleverly Martin Scorcese-tinged opening bit showing how happy Robert De Niro's mafioso character was as a big shot mobster, we see his family living in witness protection in France, apparently the most recent of a long line of relocations. It's not just De Niro who has a hard time fitting in, but his tough, resourceful wife, and two pragmatic hustler children, as well. Inevitably, his old mafia cohorts track him down, and with his kids in the line of fire, he has to take down the invading baddies with the help of his wife and a badass curmudgeon of a CIA agent, played by Tommy Lee Jones.
While I worry that the tone teeters too close to the screwball hijinks of the underwhelming, Luc Besson-produced FROM PARIS, WITH LOVE, I dig the RED-with-an-edge vibe that we see here. De Niro actually seems engaged (it's always a crapshoot with him these days), Pfeiffer is doing a more violent spin on her MARRIED TO THE MOB character, Diana Agron and John D'Leo show promise as their kids, and Jones, as always, gets big laughs with his deadpan expressions and delivery. I am hoping he gets involved in the asskicking; a De Niro/Jones tag-team throwdown is the kind of third act that would justify any preceding hour of screen time.
THE FAMILY opens on September 20th.
-Vincent Zahedi
”Papa Vinyard”
vincentzahedi@gmail.com
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