Rating: 
Summary: A Heart-Warming Romantic Comedy
Review: Nicolas Cage plays the title character in FAMILY MAN, starting out in the film as the confident and financially successful bachelor, Jack Campbell. Jack's life turns upside-down after a seemingly chance meeting with an angel who gives him a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of "what might have been". Jack finds himself transported in a flash to a parallel universe in which he married his college sweetheart and started a family in the suburbs -- and begins to wonder about the choices he has made in his life. Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni are both great in this comedy, creating several memorable scenes together that you'll want to see again and again. I especially loved seeing Jack Campbell watching the old family films of himself singing to his beloved wife on her birthday -- it was very sweet. I laughed out loud through the scenes where Jack's "new" daughter suspects her dad isn't the same as he used to be when he tries to figure out how to change her little brother's diaper. This movie is warm-hearted good-natured fun!
Rating:
Summary: Hollywood gets it right for a change!
Review: If, like me, you find most Hollywood "love" stories about as warm and romantic as a cold sleepless night in Seattle, then you're in for a surprise. Not since Casablanca have I enjoyed a love story as much, and though they both end at the airport, the similarity ends there. This one is about marriage, family, and the connections and sacrifices that make marriage, parenthood and yes, love, worthwhile. Nicolas Cage plays a harried but driven Wall Street executive playboy who wakes one day to find himself trapped in a life he never wanted, married to the woman he abandoned years ago. It's a living nightmare at first, but the harder he tries to escape it, the more he begins to see that there are values and rewards that he somehow missed in his previous executive penthouse lifestyle. By the end of the movie, he's learned a lesson he will never forget. An unexplainable fantasy in the tradition of "Groundhog Day", you soon find yourself accepting the unexplainable, even as the protagonist himself realizes there is no easy escape from his new reality, and learns to work within it's framework. After all, life throws all of us some unexpected "curves", and like the protagonist in this modern day Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Suburban Bowling League, we can become better people by accepting and embracing the crazy things life puts us through in the name of love. Chalk one up for old-fashioned family values in a feel-good movie with a message, served up without the sappy cliches. Put the kids to bed early (The Family Man deals with some adult issues, and much as I enjoyed it, it would need a little editing before I would consider it a family film!), and just the two of you watch this one together with a bowl of popcorn and a glass of wine - you'll be glad you did!
Rating:
Summary: Really a Ten
Review: If I could rate this a ten I would. Nicholas Cage (Jack), a man with a career and no other life is taken on a ride to the other side to get 'just a glimpse' of what life he could have had with Tea Leoni (Kate). Jack and Kate Campbell are the envy of everyone they know. Jack has to learn to like his environment, he left this girl standing at the airport 13 years before, well, things are different when he wakes up in a house (not his penthouse) on Christmas morning. From the children he has to their friends, Jack really has a life, less challenging in someways in much more rewarding than the multi-million dollar man that he is in NYC. He goes from being the selfish man that he is to a renewed man who cares for others. Apparently that is what he was all along, he just needed to see it. Throughout the movie he continually is pulled between the life he left behind and the life that is just a glimpse. You are wondering throughout whether he will choose this family life or choose to go back to his former self. Cage does a wonderful job, is very believable and so is the whole cast. He really has some great friends and is loved by everyone in his family role. You are lead to wonder what the producer is trying to tell you. There are lessons throughout this great film, quite a few laughs and more frustrations. The irony is intense. If you ever wondered what life would have been just if???? Buy the family man and wonder......
Rating: 
Summary: Light and airy and sweet
Review: Mix these movies up together, "It's a wonderful life", "Scrooged", and "Mr. Destiny" and you have a perfect recipe for "The Family Man".
Why?
It's a wonderful life: Nicholas Cage plays the male romantic lead who has a life affirming moment that has him go back in time and see how life could have been different. Well, in this story he does exist unlike George, but it was also Christmas time in this movie and it faintly reminded me of the story.
Scrooged - Like Bill Murray's character in Scrooged, Jack Campbell(Cage in Family Man) is well off and somewhat bitter toward the opposite sex. We see in both films as the story progresses or goes back in time what made them both turn so sour. They both change for the better and realize a few things about the way they really want their lives to be.
Mr. Destiny - In this movie, Jim Belushi, meets up with some one and gets an opportunity to see how his life could've turned out had he done something differently. The plot of Family man is very similar. Jack meets up with Don Cheadle(the black man who tries to rob the convenice store Jack goes into) and well, let's just say no one knows for sure who this criminal/angel type is, but he knows Jack and knows it is time to do something differently with his life.
I liked all these movies, and I now add "The Family Man" to the list. It was charming, very funny, and bittersweet. Tea Leoni plays the wife that Jack wakes up to the next morning after meeting the criminal/angel. Jack has gone back in time to live his life had he stayed with his ex, who was Leoni.
It was funny because my doctor had this song on in the background the day before I watched this on cable and she told me about the movie(I hadn't seen it yet), and it's the song that Cage sings to his wife at her birthday party. I'm not sure who sings it or the name but there is a line where he goes.."Sha la la la la la I love you." He actually had a decent voice and seemed so sincerely in love with her. It is one of the more romantic scenes in the movie, which has some a few more.
If you just want a nice romantic story to curl up with, this is perfect.
Rating: 
Summary: The Honor of Life.
Review: In THE FAMILY MAN, Nicholas Cage portrays Jack Campbell, a Wall Street multi-millionaire who has everything he wants. Campbell is devoted to his work so much that he is planning to fly to Colorado on Christmas to secure a multi-billion dollar business merger. On the eve before he stops by a common corner grocery store to pick up some eggnog. While there he prevents a shooting from happening by purchasing a forged lottery ticket from the would-be-shooter. As it turns out, the ticket allows Jack to gain a glimpse of the life he would have had if he hadn't gone to London thirteen years before. He awakens the following Christmas morning to find himself married to his college sweetheart, the father of two children, heavily in debt, and working as a tire salesman. It is possible to see this film and walk away thinking that the movie places the "successful life" in a negative light. However, THE FAMILY MAN illustrates that there is honor in all professions. It doesn't matter if you are a Wall Street tycoon or a tire salesman; if that's what you do, that's what you do. What matters in life are the decisions we make; do we press the best out of each moment, and how we treat other people; do we respect others or are we indifferent? All of that and Nicholas Cage, too.
Rating:
Summary: This Movie really reach me deep inside !
Review: A modern-day Frank Capra story. Jack Campbell, a successful and talented businessman, is happily living his single life. He has everything, or so he thinks. One day he wakes up in a new life where he didn't leave his college girlfriend for a London trip. He's married to Kate, lives in Jersey and has two kids. He, of course, desperately wants his life back for which he has worked 13 years for. He's president of P. K. Lassiter Investment House and not a tire salesman at Big Ed's. He drives a Ferrari and not a mini-van that never starts. And most importantly he doesn't wake up in the morning with kids jumping on the bed. After a bad start, day by day he's more confident in his new life and starts to see what he's been missing. Turns out money's good to have but that's not everything. - Jack Campbell: a 36 years old, 6'1'', Nicolas Cage. - Kate Reynolds: a 34 years old, 5'8'', Téa Leoni. - Annie Campbell: a 6 years old, Makenzie Vega, who is half-Colombian and half-Italian. - Josh Campbell: Twin Brother Jake and Ryan Milkovich.
Rating:
Summary: The Two Difficult Choices - Family or Career?
Review: Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage) was a highly sucessful wallstreet businessman. Thirteen years ago, he had left his college girlfriend, Kate Reynolds (Téa Leoni), to study law in the UK. Despite how hard she tried to convince him to stay, he had decided to leave. They never kept in contact after that. Jack went to bed on Christmas eve and woke up on Christmas morning in a noisy house with a wife and two kids. Apparently, this was the alternate life that he would lead if he had not left for studies 13 years ago and stayed to marry Kate. He slowly discovered the importance and joy of having a family in the rest of the movie. When Jack returned to his real life, he went to look for Kate, hoping to start afresh with her. Kate had long gotten over Jack and was in the midst of packing up to leave for Paris to work. Jack tried hard to get her to stay. This is a heart-warming movie, especially during the parts when Jack was searching out his role as a family man. The current ending can be improved if it shows a scene where Jack and Kate live happily together as a family.
Rating:
Summary: A satisfying film about what could have been
Review: I saw this film because I adore Nicolas Cage. He's always been a favorite actor of mine. I just love to watch him work. In this film, he plays Jack Campbell, a wall street shark who loves his work and bachelor life. On Christmas Eve, he comes upon a man named Cash, who threatens a drug store clerk with gun. Jack calms him down and begins talking with him. Jack tells Cash that he has everything he wants. Well, you can guess what's coming next. Jack gets a glimpse. The story that follows is the story of what would have happened to Jack if he had decided to stay with his girlfriend Kate (played by Tea Leoni). While it's initially cute to watch Jack's confusion at what is happening around him, the story is ultimately heartbreaking. A glimpse can't last forever, Cash tells him. Although I don't want to give away the ending, it is one that will leave most viewers satisfyed. The performances are great. Nicolas Cage is funny, confused and marvelous. Tea Leoni makes Kate a fresh character. And Don Cheadle is great as Cash. If you've ever wondered 'what if?' then this film is definately for you. Or if you're just looking for a way to waste two hours, pick this one up. You might be glad you did.
Rating:
Summary: Great Film
Review: Although I'm not a highly sentimental person, I actually got teary eyed at the end of the film. I think this film actually puts a couple of perspectives to light, one - your career, and two - your family life. I think the parallels to everyone's life is unbelievable because people go through their daily chores not realizing the importance of the choices made and the options forgone. This movie works great from my personal point of view and I think if you watch this movie, you would agree.
Rating:
Summary: A good parallel universe story--"What could've been"
Review:
This was an interesting fantasy story. Nicolas Cage plays Jack Campbell, an arbitrage specialist in New York--wealthy, powerful, dealing with billion dollar mergers. Then he meets a black street punk, who apparently is actually an angel, and brags to him that he "has everything he wants." That does it.
Campbell is transported back to a life he might have had, if only he'd married his true love instead of going to London and getting into banking; a family man who has a lovable family, sells tires retail, changes diapers, and has to count pennies. How it turns out is for you to discover. I'll not ruin it for you. Tea Leoni is wonderful as his wife. This is great entertainment if you are tired of the shoot-'em-ups and the car chases, and just want some heart-warming entertainment for a change of pace. A great story. Joseph (Joe) Pierre
author of Handguns and Freedom...their care and maintenance
and other books
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