Law & Order (TV Series) Family Business (1996) User Reviews

Bergren Family Values

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 23 July 2016]

This Law And Order story features the farewell performance of Joseph Wiseman who made his debut on the big screen in another police drama, The Detective Story. In that he plays a young punk. Here he plays the family patriarch, founder and part owner of a posh department store where during the evening hours after the store was closed his son-in- law is found murdered.

Wiseman is the father of two daughters the other one unmarried. The daughters fight a lot, but are of one mind when it comes to the family business. Wiseman has pretty much ceded control to the younger generation.

If this episode shows nothing else it shows the rich in addition to having the money to buy themselves out of trouble they also have the time on their hands to construct some foolproof schemes.

Don't ever be in the way of the Bergrens.

Happy families

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 14 April 2021]

'Law and Order' was incredibly good at exploring challenging topics and themes that hit hard and are still relevant and important to address. It was also, as has been said more than once in previous reviews, incredibly good at exploring them in an honest and pull no punches way and in a way that still holds up. This was evident in so many episodes of the previous six seasons and evident too in the previous episodes of Season 7.

All the previous six episodes are good to brilliant. All the previous seasons had at least one disappointment and Season 7 was no exception. "Family Business" is the first of the disappointments. By all means it is not a bad episode at all and is a long way from a waste of time, but it could have been a lot more considering it had a good concept and because the previous Season 7 episodes were so good. A case of starting off very well, but falls apart later on in a way similar to Season 5's "Scoundrels".

"Family Business" does have a lot that works in its favour. The photography and such as usual are fully professional, the slickness still remaining. The music is used sparingly and is haunting and non-overwrought when it is used, and it's mainly used when a crucial revelation or plot development is revealed. The direction has some nice tension while keeping things steady, without going too far the other way. The writing in the first half entertains, intrigues and engages, with some snappy lines from Briscoe and Curtis and intriguing debate between McCoy and Ross.

The story is very engaging in the first half, with enough twists to stop it from being too simple or too conventional without going overboard and confusing the drama. The character writing is very well done, although Joseph Wiseman's patriarch character is a very juicy and domineering one it's not done in a way that unbalances the episode. The acting is very good, Jerry Orbach and Sam Waterston have always been iconic as Briscoe and McCoy and Carey Lowell has settled very well. Wiseman is a powerful presence.

Sadly, the second half is nowhere near as strong. If anything it falls apart in the legal scenes. While McCoy's professionalism is not called into question as much as it was in the first half of Season 5, everything with the prosecution side is too improbable and credibility straining.

It was just not realistic that a case so flimsy, so full of holes and so easily dismissable went further ahead than it should have done (not beyond thrown out of court). The dialogue also becomes less focused and is instead more over-heated and the pace loses tautness. Actually lost interest by the fairly tacked on resolution and felt that the episode felt 10 minutes too long.

Overall, great first half but disappointing second. A bit ehh on ths episode. 6/10.

Crowded At The Top.

[rmax304823 · 8/10 · 4 November 2012]

The executive of a very high-end clothing boutique -- if that's the word -- is shot to death and nobody seems to have liked him very much. His wife, Kate, was about to divorce him and claim child custody, not to mention what I imagine to be a generous alimony payment. He was also in fierce combat over running the company with his wife's sister, Laura. Both Kate and Laura are the daughters of Joseph Wiseman, an actor now grown old and frail, who has done some idiosyncratic but memorable stints in movies like "Zapata" and "The Left Handed Gun." The two sisters are estranged but both have good motives for knocking off the abrasive executive. When the murder weapon turns up, it is registered to Kate's "personal spiritual adviser" who provides her with guidance at her Easthamptom estate and also mows the lawn. But the weapon also has Laura's fingerprints on it. The alibis of both sisters depend on their having visited their ailing father, Wiseman, at roughly the same time but without meeting one another in the vast, roomy townhouse.

It's a little complicated but interesting. Kate is charge with murder. In return for complete immunity, Kate agrees to testify that her sister Laura pulled the trigger. But on the stand, Wiseman testifies that Kate did the deed. Something like that. I may be a little confused. The upshot is that, what with Wiseman's testimony, Kate is acquitted and Laura can't be charged. Result of the trial: They get away with murder.

Kate is played by Anne Twomey and, man, does she have the projection of superiority and contempt down pat. It may be a stereotype of the way the rich treat the hoi polloi but she makes it convincing. Another superb performance comes from Victor Slezak (no relation to Walter) as the spiritual adviser. His character is well drawn by the writers too.

Probably an above-average episode.

Waste of time

[punksamurai1985 · 1/10 · 28 November 2020]

Another stupid episode that had a worthless conclusion making the episode a waste of time. Filled with errors and would of ended 10 minutes early at mistrial but the show has the judge do something no judge on earth would allow just to drag it on for another pointless 10 minutes. It has rich people so it'll be no surprise on how it turns out

Very Boring Episode

[jul_g · 2/10 · 6 August 2022]

Subpar plot and acting. (Also, in general in this season there are far too many references to Jamie Lowell's looks and body. In 2022 this would have #metoo all over it.) Recommend giving this episode a miss.