Rating: Summary: a heavenly love story Review: Jack Campbell (Nicholas Cage) left his college sweetheart Kate (Téa Leoni) when he decided to go to an internship in London. Thirteen years later, he's the President of an architect company in New York City, living the high life and having exotic sex with woman he fancies. On Christmas Eve he goes to the store when a crazed guy with a gun threatens the cashier. Jack convinces the guy to make a business deal and they walk out. It turns out that the guy is an angel, sent to give Jack a "glimpse" of what could have happened thirteen years earlier if he had not left Kate. He wakes up two Kate and two children and spends the next month or so falling in love with Kate and realizing that there is such a life without month, and with only true love and happiness.
Rating: Summary: Nicolos Cage?!!!!!!why him? Review: First of all Nicolos Cage has never been the best actor.I would have to say that the only good movie he was in was "Face Off" Any director that picks him must be desperate for actors.This movie was so boaring.How about some excitement?Were did they go wrong there?
Rating: Summary: Well done formula movie. Review: This type of what if story has been told many times for example Mr. Destiny (1990).... So the concept is not unique. Yet Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni pull it off pretty well.The basic story is a "what if?" a single successful man is shown what it would be like if he had married the girl he left. He wakes up in the new environment and is disoriented. One good touch that you do not see to often is that the daughter (Makenzie Vega) perceives the change and helps him cope with his new life. This is similar to Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)... on recognizing her dilemma they try to help her get back. The movie is worth a second watching. First for the story and second for the details.
Rating: Summary: Great Moral Story, Loved it Review: Nicolas Cage is one of my favorite actors and his performance in this film was just terrific. Tea Leoni is a fox, and her acting is foxy too. this movie gets you thinking about the decisions you made in your own life. What if you went another road, what if you had a chance to change it? What if....? That question is the most asked question among us humans and this movie really brings out that question in all of us. This movie also shows how a cold-hearted business man is desperate and longing for un-lonliness and seeks his old love. The man did a 180!! That's simply amazing and inspiring. This movie definitely deserved awards as does the cast heads...Cage and Leoni, well done and keep up the good work.
Rating: Summary: Loved it. A Lot. Review: "The Family Man" could easily have become a schmaltzy piece of Hollywood crap, your typical "happily-ever-after" holiday fantasy. But what makes "The Family Man" rise above? Three things: Brett Ratner's nimble direction, the performances from the principal cast, and an overwhelming sense of reality, life-switching aside. The movie always stays grounded, and presents an equal argument for the validity of Jack Campbell's choices. As a Wall Street exec, he's not a stereotypical heartless schmuck, but a guy who happens to like money, power, and luxury. Unlike other films with similar plots, Wall Street Jack cares about the world around him, as he proves when he intercedes a potential robbery. When he receives his glimpse, family life isn't better than his Wall Street life, just different. During the glimpse, Jack never forgets the fact that he shouldn't be there, and that's also a novelty in films of this sort. Family Jack fills his emotional needs with a family, but as a well-rounded character, his need for success is not completely forgotten. None of the characters in either life are one-dimensional. None of the choices in "The Family Man" are easy or obvious, and that's what makes it so refreshing. Even the ending is grounded in reality, because it is uncertain. Nothing is a given here, and that's why it's so damn good.
Rating: Summary: One of 2000's best films. Much better than expected. Review: Brett Ratner's comedy, The Family Man, focuses on Jack Campbell, played by Nicolas Cage. Jack is now a wealthy Wall Street businessman who seems to have everything he ever wanted out of life. However, we learn that thirteen years before present day, he made a huge decision that completely changed his future. Jack was going off to London for a year, leaving behind his fiancee girlfriend. His girlfriend, Kate (Tea Leoni) asked him to stay with her, but he left her there at the airport, and never saw or talked to her ever again. Well, his "Roadless Travel" as he calls it, gets a wake-up call at a gas station when there is a hold-up having to do with a lottery ticket. Jack makes a purposal with the man (Don Cheadle), and they agree to trade the winning ticket for two hundred dollars. Unknowingly, the man holding up the store is an angel, and gives Jack a glimpse of what his life could've been like, had he stayed and married Kate. The next morning, Jack wakes up with dog slobber on his face, and his wife on top of him, and his eye opening experience begins. Yes, yes- you've all heard that this film is this generation's "It's A Wonderful Life", but what I like even more about this film rather than "Life" is its humor, the advantage this man has to this other life, and the romance formed between Cage and Leoni, rather than a horrifying alternate-reality where he learns how his life could have changed the world had he not been in existence. This film is absolutely perfect. It has everything I want out of this genre. It doesn't go overboard, and it doesn't take itself way too seriously, or out of line. It creates humor, romance, suspense, and packs wonderful performances. It captures the momentum and power of "Life", and it makes this alternate life a good thing. I loved how Cage interacted with this new world. It was also fun to see him react to his job, his kids, his friends, and his low balanced checking account. What also rang the bells for me was when the film decided to give Jack the chance to get the best of both worlds. He was fit for the Wall Street job, and he could stay with his family at the same time. Just when you think that is just perfect and what should happen, Jack and the audience still realize they aren't getting the point which I coped with as well. Tea Leoni was magnificent! My favorite part of the film with her and Cage together centered around the chocolate cake scene. The shopping mall scene was fascinatingly humorous, and the way Jack turned his life around and learned how much more enjoyable his life would've been was truly a spectacle. At one point with the filmmaking process, I learned that Nicolas Cage turned this film down two or three times, just because he thought the story was very corny. Director, Brett Ratner kept on pursuing Cage because he felt he would be perfect for the role. According to some of the special feature interviews on the DVD, Ratner convinced Nick to do a film that doesn't come knocking on his door too often. Cage finally OK'd it, and signed on, hoping that this film might give him a better image, as well as his hopes for this film to be successful in itself. It sure payed off. This is Ratner's best film yet. It is absolutely fun. Every actor has an equal share and makes this movie excellent. The plot is ingenious and smart. The humor and romance excell beyond expectations. Nicolas Cage almost seems better as a family man rather than a hard-core action hero. There is absolutely nothing I would change with this film. It is fall down stupendous. QUOTE: "Everything works for this film. I absolutely loved the whole thing from beginning to end! Tea Leoni and Nicolas Cage are the perfect duo. Brett Ratner makes his golden film right here, a film that could never be made any better. The humor soars, the romance shines, and the fun and dramatic aspect of the entire thing never lets go. This is a film to treasure, one that deserves a lot of gratitude. The Family Man is superb, and no one should deny it of that."
Rating: Summary: A Delightful Perspective on Single vs. Married Life Review: Jack Campbell provides us with a "what if it happened differently in my life" scenario. This one involves a sweeping transformation via a mysterious angelic type individual who lets Campbell see his life if he chose the other "y" in the road, that of married to Kate. This movie is well done. The acting by Nick Cage and the lady who plays Kate are terrific. Cage has outstanding range of emotions and moods and makes them come across as sincere and realistic. I thought the scenes with the young daughter in the car helping Jack to get on with his first day as Dad/Father/Son-in-law was outstanding. Most enjoyable viewing. More like this need to hit the market. I'll take the time and make the investment to watch such as this.
Rating: Summary: An Instant Classic! Review: "The Family Man" is about a man, Jack Cambell (played by Nicolas Cage), who receives a glimpse of how things could of been, if he had chosen a life with Kate Reynolds (played by Tea Leoni). The film is nothing short of astonishing. "Family Man" has it all, from comedy, to romance, to drama, you name it, "Family Man" has it. I was expecting a good performance by Nicolas Cage, and my expectations were exactly as how I had predicted it. But Tea Leoni, gives a performance of a life time! The chemistry between the two of them is VERY real, and therefore makes the film all the more realistic. There were plenty of smiles, and maybe for some, a tear jerker here and there, which plays with our emotions and gives us one of the best movies of all time. After recent misses, Cage makes the right decision to become the "Family Man". If no one knew of Tea Leoni to begin with, she will become a house hold name by the time you see her Oscar winning performance. As for the ending, it wasn't quite to my liking, but if you look at it, given the circumstances, it was a realistic ending, and not the Hollywood ending we were looking for. And Bret Ratner really pulls of a magnificent job as the director of such a serious film, rather than his previous work (Rush Hour, Money Talks). A film I now have in my DVD collection, this is a movie I won't let anyone borrow any time soon. Grade: A
Rating: Summary: An okay movie Review: The idea for this movie is good. "What would my life be like if... I had done this instead of that". It's really a hit and miss movie. Some parts are really great and funny, while others are just boring. And the ending is a pretty bad ending. Since there is no ending.
Rating: Summary: Our generation's "It's A Wonderful Life" Review: I have just re watched this tremendous little film, and I am writing to share with you that just as Frank Capra's "It's A Wonderful Life" did minor box office but became the quintessential Christmas film, someday this gem will become the number 2 film of the season. You need no more words from me...buy it, see it and cry a little.....you're life will be better for the experience...
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