Rating: 
Summary: I Choose Us
Review: Movie Summary: Jack Campbell boasts to an angry man with a gun that he has everything that he needs. The man laughs in disbelief and tells Jack to remember that he brought this on himself as he walks away. The next morning, Jack wakes up in a house in New Jersey married to the girl he let get away 13 years before. He struggles with the changes and fights to get his old life as President of a huge Wallstreet firm back but no one from that life remembers him. Along the way, he learns a little something about life, love, and himself. My Opinion: I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Having a family myself, a lot of the points hit home. I was able to identify with Jack as he went over the sacrifices he had made for his family and the doubts and "what if" thoughts he had. The comparison of the two different lives that Jack could have was very interesting. I found myself being disappointed along with Jack when he found out he was a tire salesman. I wanted him to find a better job as well. I can see how people without families might have a harder time getting into this movie. It's hard to know what he is going through without feeling it yourself. That's why Jack had to actually go through it before he could figure it out for himself. We can only watch and imagine. Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni are both excellent and give very good performances. I didn't doubt for a minute that they were married. I enjoyed the interaction between them. The daughter who knew something was wrong with her dad was a very nice touch. DVD Quality: Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1, DD5.1 Sound and picture were excellent. Tons of extras including deleted scenes, outtakes, trailer, production notes, and more. This is a very robust DVD release of a good movie. What You Should Do: See it. This DVD is a very good release and the movie is great, so it would also make a great purchase. This is a good movie for anyone with a family who ever gets discouraged or depressed from time to time. Related Movies To Check Out: Me Myself I, It's A Wonderful Life, Somewhere in Time
Rating: 
Summary: Family Man
Review: Just a great all around movie. I plan on purchasing it to watch on the Christmas holidays. Funny, yet sends a wholesome message that makes you set your priorities in life. Perfect cast for the characters. Highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: It's A Wonderful...Glimpse
Review: It's a wonderful glimpse of "It's A Wonderful Life", except for the quick glimpse of Tea Leoni dancing in the shower (you never would have seen Donna Reed like this), and ladies, you get a couple of "brief" glimpses of Nicolas Cage in his underwear (Jimmy Stewart wouldn't have been caught dead in his underwear and you probably are glad of it). Without these glimpses, I thought I was seeing a reverse glimpse of the great holiday classic. Jack Campell (Nicolas Cage) is not the nice family man that Stewart portrayed in the black-and-white version. He is a money-hungry, Wall Street wheeler-dealer exec by day, and at night, he enjoys a romp in the sack. Leoni plays Jack's girlfriend whom he left at the airport thirteen years earlier. She pleaded for him to stay and not go to London on business, because she had a bad vibe about it. It was one last glimpse of him for thirteen years. There is alot to be said for the number thirteen. They say it is the year for glimpses. Don Cheadle plays an angel I guess, but he's not a very nice one like Charley was in the original version. He is introduced as a robber with a foul mouth, while Charley was a nice drunk, but they both have their bells. Anyway, in the end, Charley earned his angel wings, but Don? Was he working for wings? Was God his employer or is he a self-employed angel in this one? Nonetheless, the angel encounters Jack in a convenience store and gives him an unwelcome glimpse as the family man, the life he left behind. This is an enchanting romantic glimpse of what could have been. Which life will Jack choose as the "most wonderful glimpse"? I enjoyed this one. It was entertaining, yet poignant. Cage and Leoni are good in this one, but it's still a glimpse compared to the classic.
Rating:
Summary: The Family Man
Review: This is a movie that has you think what if....
Rating:
Summary: A Romantic Fantasy That Works
Review: In the tradition of the best films that Hollywood ever had to offer comes this refreshingly honest movie that isn't afraid to say that you don't have to be rich, hip and cynical to be successful and happy with your life. "The Family Man," directed by Brett Ratner, stars Nicolas Cage as Jack Campbell, a man who took the "road less traveled," and turned his back on love for a career on Wall Street, and thirteen years later still doesn't realize how empty and shallow his life has become. Then something happens; on Christmas Eve, Jack does a good turn to the right person at the right time. His name is Cash (Don Cheadle), and he just happens to be a guy with, well, connections. And the next thing Jack knows, he's getting a "glimpse" of what his life would have been had he made a different choice all those many years ago. When he wakes up on Christmas morning, he's not in his bed in his penthouse apartment, but in a house in the suburbs, sleeping next to Kate Reynolds (Tea Leoni), the woman he once loved, but abandoned. Wall Street is history; he's now a crackerjack tire salesman at "Big Ed's," and he and Kate have two kids, Annie (Makenzie Vega) and Josh (Jake and Ryan Milkovich). Needless to say, Jack is confused; and the enigmatic Cash isn't about to let him in on what's going on-- that's for Jack to figure out on his own. So Jack has no choice but to go on living his life-- even if it's not really "his" life. And it becomes a journey of discovery; not only for Jack, but for the audience, as well. And what follows may be fantasy, but it's fantasy with a message, from some filmmakers who aren't afraid to tell it like it is, and they do it well. What director Roth presents you with is an examination of what life is really all about, and what-- in the final analysis-- is really important. And make no mistake, this isn't a film that aims for the head, it aims for the heart, scores a bullseye and doesn't apologize for it. Is it pure, true, realistic, riveting drama? Of course not, and it never pretends to be. What it is, is a film that stays true to what it's all about and says some things that need to be said in this fast-food, cybersaturated world of the here and now. It's a poignant, well made and well acted film that appeals to the universal sensibilities that in one way or another reside within even the most jaded, modernized and "New Aged" individuals. Because it's an entreaty to the most basic of human needs and concerns. Cage was the perfect choice to play Jack; he's got a natural, sympathetic look that makes him easy to like, and combined with the emotional aspect he brings to the character it makes Jack someone to whom it is so easy to relate. it's a performance that allows you to feel something; and that's really what this movie is all about, capturing that sense of humanity that is so often lacking in people's lives today. Cage makes it work, and he makes it work beautifully, because he lets you share Jack's frustration, his loss, his fears and, most importantly, the hope and the love he ultimately realizes has been missing in his life. It's a challenging role that Cage not only met, but surpassed with just the kind of exacting performance that was needed to put this story across. Tea Leoni gives an excellent performance, as well, as Kate. It's a sensitive, sympathetic portrayal that serves the character and the story with great effectiveness. Leoni makes something special out of a character that could've been just the "female lead," with the purpose of being nothing more than the means of moving the story of Jack's self-discovery along. Instead, she makes it her story as much as his by making Kate an endearing, truly integral part of the film, and she fairly sparkles on the screen. The supporting cast includes Jeremy Piven (Arnie), Saul Rubinek (Alan), Josef Sommer (Peter), Lisa Thornhill (Evelyn), Harve Presnell (Big Ed), Mary Beth Hurt (Adelle) and Francine York (Lorraine). There's no doubt that personal experience and frame of reference is going to play a big part in the way "The Family Man" is received by the audience. But Ratner, Cage, Leoni and everyone else connected with this project are to be commended for making an honest, heart-felt film with an important message about life in today's world. It's a film that says success isn't just being the guy at the top of the heap, that it's okay to just "be" whomever or whatever you are, as long as it's what makes you happy and content. It's a bold statement for a filmmaker to make today, and we can only hope that more artists will have the guts to make more movies like this in the future.
Rating:
Summary: A redeeming story for the holidays
Review: If you're cynical, jaded or bitter, don't bother with this film. But if you're within the range of redemption, this movie can reignite that hearth within. As expected, Nicolas is credible as the selfish, rich Jack Campbell. In fact, he's so good, his descent into middle-class squalor could have been absurd. After the long, initial shock, his Jack Campbell makes a believable transition in the opposite direction of George Bailey. Clearly, Tea and little MacKenzie understood their roles as catalysts, because they shook Nicolas in the right direction. Just as Don Cheadle is on the steps to Leading Man, Jeremy Piven is becoming the consummate character actor with versatility Jim Belushi might envy.
Rating:
Summary: Predictable but still very entertaining
Review: As your sitting there watching this movie you can predict a lot of what is going to happen towards then end but the story is still fun. It seems to go a little too fast and could have spent some more time with him and the family in general but I still like it. It is very entertaining and for those that have kids you will like it.
Rating:
Summary: A worthwhile rental.
Review: This isn't a "great" movie, but it's a good one. If you've seen the Hugh Grant movie "Nine Months" anytime recently, you'll probably be bored to tears by this movie, because it's got a very similar storyline. The only thing that sets it apart is that this is a "what if" movie, what you're seeing isn't really happening, it's what could have happened. Just for the record Jeremy Piven is hilarious in his role as Jack's (Nic Cage) neighbor, friend, and fellow family man. And Tea Leoni turned in a great and highly believable performance. I guess the thing that makes this movie so hard to swallow is that it begins with a high-power meeting in which Jack is (happily) spouting emotionless workaholism, then 2 minutes later he gets a message from his ex-girlfriend (Leoni) and that all of the sudden sends him into a tailspin of loneliness and longing? And Don Cheadle's role as some kind of gun-toting angel was just plain weird. But like I said it's a worthwhile rental, a movie which actually celebrates real marriage and family life, and that doesn't come along too often.
Rating: 
Summary: Sappy and unoriginal
Review: 'The Family Man' is a sappy variation on what is becoming a trite theme. The 'alternate life' plotline, which probably originated with Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' and saw its film zenith with Frank Capra's 'It's a Wonderful Life' has seen a lot of action lately. Films that come to mind are 'Mr. Destiny', 'Sliding Doors', and 'Me, Myself, I'. 'The Family Man' is by far the most shamelessly schmaltzy and borrows something from all its predecessors. It brazenly ... elements from 'It's a Wonderful Life' with a Christmas Eve opening where our despondent hero Jack (Nicolas Cage) tries to do a good turn for a scruffy stranger named Cash (Don Cheadle) who, as it turns out, has magical powers. Next thing Jack knows he is in a new life where none of his former friends know who he is and his ex-girlfriend is his wife with two adorable kids. The writers even have Cash give Jack a bell, reminiscent of ringing a bell so angels can get their wings in IAWL. Then Jack metamorphoses from Mr. Potter to George Bailey right before our eyes. I could fill the page with derivative elements, but you get the idea. While the story is cute at times, it defies logic that any sane person would act the way some of the characters behave in the situations given. The story obviously panders to the masses, ennobling the middle class and vilifying the ambitious and successful. The clear message is that if you work hard and achieve success you will live an empty life and have no appreciation of the joys that come from abandoning your aspirations and cheerfully accepting life's indignities. Okay, that's a bit cynical, and lionizing the average Joe to sell tickets is nothing new, but this is a bit much. And the ending borders on goofy. Nicholas Cage is an excellent actor but he is just too deadpan in this role. Director Brett Ratner can't seem to cajole any dynamism out of Cage except in the boardroom scene early in the film. Tea Leoni gives a vivacious and lovable performance and single-handedly holds the film together from the fringes. Don Cheadle once again steals the show with a dynamite rendering of Cash. I rated this film a 6/10. It is a feel good film that that is easy to like, but that takes shortcuts to make a buck. It slathers on the sentiment and makes a virtue out of abandoning one's dreams. Frank Capra it isn't.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful! Can I give it 6 stars?!
Review: I laughed, I cried, I was profoundly moved. I LOVED this movie. The acting was top-notch - Cage's performance was magical; Tea was engaging, lovable, believable. These two together were a delight to behold. Haven't we all had moments of wondering "what would my life look like if I had....?" That's the premise of The Family Man. A couple of scenes I really enjoyed for their value in illustrating the vast differences in the Self-made Man Jack vs. the Family Man Jack: (disclosure: I'm really NOT a fan of gratuitous nudity!! Really! but...) The shower scene where Tea displayed a complete naturalness, lack of shame, comfortableness with her nakedness born of the familiarity that comes with 13 years of marriage vs. Nicolas's complete shock at seeing his former girlfriend exposed before him. Also, Multi-millionaire Jack dancing in his decadent-view-of-New-York designer closet filled with scads of professional clothing vs. Family Jack opening his puny, cluttered closet full of flannel shirts, sloppily and hurriedly getting dressed and driving to his Big Ed's Tires blue-collar, panelled office filled with bowling trophies and kids' drawings. So much contrast! Anyway, I highly recommend Family Man. Curl up on your comfy couch with a bowl of popcorn and soda (or maybe a latte and a cinnamon roll), sit back and enjoy. This movie will give you a chance to appreciate what you have as a result of the choices you've made, or perhaps to wonder what might have been...
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