The Family (2013)

The Manzoni family, a notorious mafia clan, is relocated to Normandy, France under the witness protection program, where fitting in soon becomes challenging as their old habits die hard.

Director:

Luc Besson

Writers:

Luc Besson (screenplay), Michael Caleo (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert De Niro	...	Fred Blake / Giovanni Manzoni
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Maggie Blake
Dianna Agron	...	Belle Blake
John D'Leo	...	Warren Blake
Tommy Lee Jones	...	Robert Stansfield
Jimmy Palumbo	...	Di Cicco
Domenick Lombardozzi	...	Caputo
Stan Carp	...	Don Luchese
Vincent Pastore	...	Fat Willy
Jon Freda	...	Rocco
Michael J. Panichelli Jr.	...	Billy the Bug
Paul Borghese	...	Albert
Anthony Desio	...	Bernie
Ted Arcidi	...	Tommy
David Belle	...	Mezzo

Storyline

A mafia boss and his family are relocated to a sleepy town in France under the witness protection program after snitching on the mob. Despite the best efforts of CIA Agent Stansfield (Tommy Lee Jones) to keep them in line, Fred Manzoni (Robert De Niro), his wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer) and their children Belle (Dianna Agron) and Warren (John D'Leo) can't help but revert to old habits and blow their cover by handling their problems the "family" way, enabling their former mafia cronies to track them down. Chaos ensues as old scores are settled in the unlikeliest of settings.

---

Plot Keywords:

girl beating up a boy | german shepherd | mafia | witness protection | normandy | 

---

Taglines:

Robert DeNiro is one killer dad

---

Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and brief sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA France

Language:

French English

Release Date:

13 September 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Malavita

Filming Locations:

Studios de Paris, La Cité du Cinéma, Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$14,034,764 (USA) (13 September 2013)

Gross:

$36,917,730 (USA) (3 January 2014)

Company Credits

Production Co:

EuropaCorp, Relativity Media, TF1 Films Production

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The book on which this film is based on had a sequel, Malavita Again, published in 2008.

---

Goofs

Stansfield refers to Domenick Lombardozzi's character, Caputo, as 'Mimmo' when coming in to check up on the Manzoni's after their first day in town.

---

Quotes

Fred Blake: Is everything all right?
Maggie Blake: Nothing much, just the prospect of packing up and moving again when they find out you killed the plumber.
Fred Blake: I didn't kill him, I took him to the hospital.
Maggie Blake: Why'd you beat him to a pulp? He's the only plumber within a radius of 20 miles.
Fred Blake: But he disrespected us and he made you wait on him, honey.
Maggie Blake: Geez, honey, I survived.
Fred Blake: And you know the guy was trying to rip me off, so put yourself in my shoes.
Maggie Blake: Oh, I definitely wouldn't have beaten him up. I mean, who's gonna fix the pipes ...
[...]

---

Crazy Credits

At the beginning, the words "father", "mother", "son" and "daughter" are shown and intersected. Some of the letters vanish, and the remaining ones spell the film's title.

---

Connections

References Fantomas I: Im Schatten der Guillotine (1913)

---

Soundtracks

Pop Muzik
Written by Robin Scott
Performed by Robin Scott (as M)

User Reviews

Cool black comedy - don't expect anything artful or serious and you're in for a fun ride.

I just watched "The Family" and I for one have had a very good time. This movie is gleefully dark, wickedly funny and offers great acting from all the stars involved, (who really seem to relish their parts). I was shocked when I checked IMDb and found so many comments and reviews from disappointed film fans. How can anyone complain about the violence in this dark comedy and at the same time love films like "Fargo" (or practically anything by the Coen Brothers, for that matter)? I came to the conclusion that the main reason behind all the negative reviews is that people expected something more akin to "Léon", "Goodfellas" or "The Godfather" (where the violence isn't played for laughs), when in fact this is something completely different: This is a black comedy about a group of predators who have to hide among - unbearably arrogant

• sheep. You can imagine how well that will turn out (for the sheep).

Anyway, I admit that with other actors involved, this would probably just have been an average mob comedy, but with the kind of talent you get here, it's hard not to have a blast. My rating: 7 out of 10.

Favorite films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/

Lesser-known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/

Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075552387/