The Family Man Directed by: Brett Ratner Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage) is a Wall-Street Shark in a firm where everyone calls each other "tiger" when the big deal goes down. It's a firm filled to the brim with everyone you hated in high school for all the right reasons. Jack Campbell is a diehard moneymaker, and is about to close a big deal the day after Christmas. Instead of letting his employees take it easy on Christmas, he decides to make them all come in to form a lazy huddle and get hyped up about the 10-digit deal. For awhile I thought the film was heading towards Scrooged territory, so I put my familiar plot seat belt on. Jack had a college sweetheart Kate Reynolds (Tea Leoni) that he let go in order to make it big in the trade business 13 years ago. She wanted marriage and a family; he wanted fancy black underwear and a walk in closet. Suddenly, a mystical event occurs involving a gangster played by Don Cheadle and Jack is thrust into the world he never had, and never will. It's The Ghost of Christmas Present filled with toddlers, a child with a lisp, suburbia, and the Kate he left behind. Director Brett Ratner constructs a wonderful tale of the life Jack never had. Instead of being part of a co-op in the Wall Street district, he owes 120 payments on a four-bedroom house in New Jersey. He works at a tire store for Kate's father, and everyone calls him "The Hammer" at the bowling alley. Instead of having a wardrobe of two dozen $4000 suits, he's forced to dress like Mr. Rogers (literally). It's not that bad of a life, and seems all too familiar to us who make under $100,000 a year, but it makes Jack gag at the idea of it. Kate doesn't notice the change in her husband when he wakes up beside her in bed as much as their daughter does. She thinks the space aliens did a good job making a clone of her real father, and she's more worried about having her own brains sucked out of her head than why the sudden change has occurred. Jack tries to escape through several different routes, but he always winds up back in Kate's bed and feeding the baby. It's only natural that he realizes he never stopped loving Kate, and that the kids, yes, are just so cute. Just like in A Christmas Carol, the fantasy world doesn't last forever and Jack is yanked away from it as soon as he becomes adapted to it. The film ends on a Hollywood high note, and is tailored for high note audiences. Even with its sewing machine made sentimentality, I still found myself enjoying the film tremendously. Cage and Leoni have instant screen chemistry, and Leoni is a total quirk as the mother trying to stay young inside. She really has fun with the role. I was glad to see the Nicolas Cage back that isn't the big action star that thinks with his eyebrows too much. I've always thought he's at his best in dramatic or comedy roles. He's a goofy, lanky fellow when he isn't all buffed out. His bodily movements are reminiscent of a human form of Grover. Now there's a movie: A Christmas Carol a la Sesame Street. When the credits roll, only a sourpuss wouldn't feel happy with this film. I usually am not impressed with films of this nature simply because they are so easy to predict, and they follow the same age-old formula. The Family Man is unique in its own Wonderful way. |
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