The Family Man

Rating:
Summary: A must see movie this Christmas season
Review: 13 years ago Jack Campbell almost married his college sweethart Kate Reynolds, but his internship in London changed everything, and now he's the president of a big wall street company, according to Jack he's got everything he ever wanted. This Christmas he's been given a chance to see a glimpse of what his life is like after marrying Kate, the life of a family man.

The Family Man reminds me of Frequency, both deals with the question of "What If?", and both movies show what its like to have a second chance in life. Nicholas Cage gave a convincing performance as Jack Campbell, and he demonstrated his talent in a wide range of different roles. Tea Leoni portrays Kate Reynolds, she provided excellent on screen chemistry with Cage, and her acting here is definitely a step up from the blockbuster hit Deep Impact. Directed by Brett Ratner (Rush Hour,) this is a great movie to watch with your family, a feel good film during this holiday season, warm-hearted and funny, many could probably identify with Jack's first attempt at fatherhood. I highly recommend this movie!

Rating:
Summary: A Really Engrossing Film
Review: This movie borrows from It's a Wonderful Life and the book Replay, where a man can go back and see how his life would be if he made a different choice.

In this movie, Nicholas Cage says goodbye to his girlfriend (Kate) at the airport. He is going to London for a job. We next see him years later as a successful head of a large corporation, unmarried and basically involved in one-night stands. We are later to find out that when Cage went to London, he forgot about Kate and she went her own way, never to be heard from again.

Cage is on the way home from the office during a snow-storm and thwarts a robbery. The audience expects the robber to shoot cage but instead Cage seems to convince the robber that he would be a better man if he didn't shoot Cage. It turns out that the robber is not really a robber but a type of Angel (similar to Clarence in It's a Wonderful Life) who will give Cage a glimpse of what life would be like if he hadn't stayed in London but instead came back and married Kate.

Cage goes to sleep in his luxury apartment and wakes up the next morning in a bed with an older Kate. Cage slowly learns that he is really a married man with a family and instead of a big time corporate president, he is a tire salesman in his father-in-law's store.

There are several hilarious scenes and some very touching ones. His "new" life looks like a nightmare at first turns out to be the life he will eventually prefer (Some of this is reminiscent of Goldie Hawn in Overboard). Only until he realizes this, he will not be returned to his prior life by the Angel.

The director does a great job in giving us an ending that is different than what you seem to expect. I won't say what but I think it was well done.

One thing that is not explored is that when Cage's glimpsed life finishes, he will lose his two children from that glimpsed life. The director never touches on Cage's feelings about that, unlike the novel Replay where the main character is torn apart because a child he had in an alternate life no longer exists when he is in a different reality.

The movie is well cast and Don Cheadle is excellent as the "angel."

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: A FEEL GOOD FILM
Review: Nicholas Cage is a wall street tycoon that has everything but a real life. As Christmas approaches Cage is busy landing a mega merger deal when an "angel of fate" transports him into what his life could have been like if he would have stayed with his former fiance (Tea Leoni). He finds himself with a wife of thirteen years and two very cute kids. The problem is that he has all the memories of his wall stree existence and no idea how he got where he is. The result is a feel good comedy that makes you wonder "what if".

The plot line is not all that original. It is basically the same film as "Mr. Destiny" except with the reverse circumstances. Also, unlike Jim Belushi, Nicholas Cage CAN act. Cage pulls off this comedy better than most of his previous performances. Tea Leoni is charming and funny in her own right. They mix well on screen and the child actors add that OH SO CUTE factor that seems to be a must have in movies lately.

Overall the movie flows good and holds interest throughout. It plays on human emotion to the point that the viewer really seems to care about the development of the characters and wants to know what happens. The ending is hopeful without being the typical over the top sap. I really enjoyed this movie and recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: mid-life crisis movie
Review: As has already been pointed out, this movie is incredibly predictable (like many great movies are). That is one of the wonderful things about a good story. It doesn't have to have lots of plot twists to keep you interested. As movie-viewers we simply agree to suspend our disbelief for a while and pretend that all of this is possible.

The parallels with "Its a Wonderful Life" are clear and obvious: The man finds out how his life would be different if he had made one simple choice differently in the past (or present). It is a fun little game to play.

But I think this movie goes beyond that. I think it also hearkens, in an allegorical way, to a man's mid-life crisis. Jack Campbell is as successful as he could ever dream of being. He has money, women adore him (at least some do), he has lots of power, a great apartment, everything he could want. But it is somehow empty.

Of course the movie takes place at Christmas (the time of year when many people's thoughts turn to family/friends) and he realizes that his life, while successful is inherently empty. His "boss" ("Peter Lassiter") is what Jack will become when he is older: "a cold heartless man who only cares about money" and how to get more of it. He secretly admires an underling "yes man" ("Alan") as someone who, while not as successful, does have a family for whom he cares deeply.

One night Jack experiences a "glimpse" (fantasy?) about what his life would be like if he had gotten married to his college sweetheart. The new life he enters is full of surprises (for him, at least). He is forced to live like the other half ("I'll get a funnel cake. It will be the highlight of my week"). Part of him yearns for his old life of excess and easy luxuries, but as the movie evolves he begins to see the advantages of his new existence in suburban New Jersey and simply takes "vacations" into his "former life" in the form of watching CNBC when his wife wants to make love and other similar situations. By the end of the "glimpse" he wants nothing to do with that life of power and money. He has found fulfillment. His fantasies no longer interest him as much as his life with his wife and kids. He lets go of that part of his life. In fact, at the end he admits that "nothing ever felt more real."

If you can get past the cliche moments, predictable nature and stereotyped characters (his best friend is as stereotyped as they come) this is a touching movie about what happens because of one simple choice and what we really care about in life.

Just a little side note: I thought the casing was odd. Every time I watch this movie I think, "Nicholas Cage and Tea Leoni are trying their hardest to be Mel Gibson playing Jack Campbell and Meg Ryan playing Kate Reynolds," but that's just me.

Rating:
Summary: Love or money? Love!
Review: Nicholas Cage plays the character of Jack Campbell, a yup that only cares for money and his next deal. At Christmas eve his former girlfriend calls but he doesn't answer. He left her 13 years ago and went to London, England and forgot about her. He is now focused on his own firm and the big business deal he is working on and goes to bed. When he wakes up he finds himself in a house in a suburb with his former girlfriend as his wife, with two kids and a dog. He has a hard time adopting to changing diapers and selling tires for his father-in-law. After a while he starts to appreciate the loving family and begins to slowly fit in, until he is naturally living with his wife and kids: the family man. At that point he wakes up again, being a yup in his cold and lonely business world and decides to call his old girlfriend again to see what she wanted from him. See for yourself how the movie comes to an end. Tip: it's a lovestory...

Rating:
Summary: Awesome movie
Review: I love this movie. I just saw it again, after a few years, when it aired on TV a few days ago. I know it's airing because of Christmas and the holidays, but I love it anyway.

I like the way this movie flows. Everything about it makes it great. Every part ties everything together and makes it all make sense.

My favorite character is Annie. I love when she asks Jack if he is really her father, then starts helping her new "alien" father figure out how to be a better dad and husband. She starts giving him hints and fills him in on what he's supposed to do next. One of my favorite parts is when she explains to Jack how to get Josh (his son - in the glimpse) out of his car seat.

Josh, by the way, is the cutest thing. So is Annie. I think they were great casts.

One thing I don't like about this movie is the end. I wanted it to end in a way that showed something happening, whether it was Jack ending up being the "family man" or going back to being his old self, instead of just having them go have coffee together. After that end I wanted there to be a sequel - even though sequels usually suck, I still wanted more closure.

Watch and ENJOY!! :-)

Rating:
Summary: What's Most Important
Review: My family and I love this movie. It reminds us of what is important in life and how sometimes we must reflect on the what we wish for and the choices we make. I respect the people that choose other roads and values. Not all of us are family people.

Rating:
Summary: Lucky Nicholas Cage wakes up married to Téa Leoni
Review: The idea of lesson of the road not taken has been done to death in Hollywood and never as well as when Frank Capra but Jimmy Stewart's George Bailey through the wringer of seeing what the world would have been like if he had never been born in "It's a Wonderful Life." So when somebody like Jack Campbell (Nicholas Cage) wakes up on Christmas morning and discovers that instead of being a Wall Street playboy he wakes up in a bedroom in a New Jersey home with a wife and two kids he might think that he has descended into Hell, but of course it is no where as bad as Bedford Falls turned into Pottersville. Still, there is something potent about the idea of intervention, divine or otherwise, that intervenes in some mystical way to make sure we are on the right path.

"The Family Man" is totally predictable in terms of having the requisite scenes for this type of tale. We begin with the "wrong choice," which happened thirteen years earlier at the airport when Jack got on a plane to start his career on the way to being a major domo of mergers and acquisitions and left behind his college sweetheart, Kate Reynold (Téa Leoni), despite the fact that she pleads with him not to go. Now play is playing Scrooge on Christmas Eve to clinch a big deal and two things happen to derail his plans and give him a glimpse of an alternative life. First, he gets a message to call Kate. Second, he acts to save his life during what appears to be a robbery. The next thing he knows a strange man (Don Cheadle) is making the point that Jack has no one to blame for himself for what is about to happen. The next morning Jack wakes up in bed with Kate and two kids come bursting through the door all excited about it being Christmas. Jack proceeds to freak.

Again, we know what is going to happen. There will be scenes where Jack has to function in his "new" life while everybody wonders why he is acting so strangely. There will be the effort to get his old life back, the moment where he accepts his new reality, and the moment when it is taken away. Despite this predictability the film is still worth seeing and an above average example of the well worn genre. The reasons would be as follows:

First, there is Téa Leoni, who is as comfortable in her role of Kate as Kate is in her life. There is a scene where Jack finally realizes what we have known from the start, that Kate is a beautiful woman, and she says in wonder, "How can you...Look at me like you haven't seen me every day for the last 13 years?" Nicholas Cage is certainly good in this film and his performance keeps this one from becoming sappy, but his best moments are playing off of Leoni.

Second, I liked the fact that Jack's daughter, young Annie (Makenzie Vega), figures out pretty quickly that the guy struggling to change baby Josh's diapers is not her father. She has her own hypothesis as to what is going on that involves aliens and a mothership, but this allows Jack to receive some help on where to go and what to do to at least pretend that he knows what he is doing. Besides, the relationship between Jack and Annie sets up one of the nicest moments in the film.

Third, I like the way the script by David Diamond & David Weissman proves that Jack is good at his Wall Street job (there is a nice deleted scene where he takes those skills to his new job as the best tire salesman in the Garden State). A lot of times in movies like this we are told about a character's abilities rather than being shown. This film took the time to show Jack's strengths.

Fourth, I like the way the movie played out the scene where Jack realizes that he is going to lose the life of being a family man that he has finally embraced. The question at that point, when you have accepted that it is all going to slip away, is "What do you do?" I like the answer the script comes up with and the way Cage plays it.

Finally, I actually liked the way this one played out its end game, not in terms of the bookend effect but specifically in terms of where Jack is in the final scene. Maybe I have seen this type of resolution before (it is hard to believe with how many of these there have been that this road has not been trod before as well), but it struck me as being different and certainly made me rethink the particular lesson on the film. This might be one of the more pragmatic endings I have seen in this genre.

Certainly you have to be in the requisite mood to watch a film of this type, especially if you are concerned about saccharin levels in your cinematic intake. I obviously put this one off for several years. But the bottom line is that unless you are morally offended by the basic plot line of this 2000 film and its movie brethren, you should find it enjoyable.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful look at what is really important
Review: "So you're a non-profit lawyer? Pro-bono? No one gets paid at all, no one makes a dime?"

This is a great film. One of the many that get to the heart of what is important in life. Like "A Christmas carol" or "It's a Wonderful Life" this film is also about how one man gets a "glimpse" at Christmas about what his life could have been.

Jack is a very successful and very wealthy Wall-Street investment banker, who runs into a street wise person robbing a convenience store. When Jack proclaims he "doesn't need anything" he wakes up the next day in New Jersey, with a wife and two kids, and a job selling tires. Imagine his surprise when he is no longer the President of the firm, or lives in a NYC penthouse with a Ferrari.

Nicolas Cage is wonderful throughout. His ability to realistically express confusion and a slow change of heart is amazing. Tea Leoni plays his wife, and does so with a charm that is infectious, in easily her best role.

As "Jack" slowly begins to understand where his life took a turn he begins to understand that material possessions and career success is hardly what he thought it was.

This is simply a wonderful film, with a great story. Funny, warm, and engaging, the emotional journey is touching and resonates. Highly recommended!