The Family - A Family of Assassins

I have a complete list of movies that I'd like to write reviews about. Before I begin, I would just like to say that this is a teenager speaking. Just a reminder.

Robert De Niro, an amazing actor no matter the age he turns, has been in a fair share of actions movies for his time. It's funny because the one movie that I saw before this movie on complete coincidence was Goodfellas, a 90s film where Robert De Niro plays the role of a New York gangster.

This time, however, Robert De Niro plays a different role in this action flick: the rat. Opening up the film, Robert De Niro's character, Giovanni Manzoni, seems like your average ordinary dad until he pulls a dead body out of the back of his family's SUV. Clearly, this shows that Giovanni involved himself in dirty work of some sorts. To clarify a point stated earlier, Giovanni is the rat mainly because he ratted out on his close companions in the line of work that he was in (something that those of you who saw Goodfellas would laugh about).

The one thing that I admire about this film is the idea of small details staying consistent throughout the entire movie.

There is this one scene where Belle Manzoni and Warren Manzoni, played by Dianna Agron and John D'Leo respectively, are walking home from school when Warren makes a conversation about his father's use of the "f" word (yes, Internet, we're trying to keep it PG-13 on this blog). Warren goes on about his father using this word in various contexts, making the word appropriate for any situation whatsoever: a constant motif found in the film that promotes hilarity.

However, a down side to the film was that everyone had to have the characteristics of an assassin (see the title above). Sure, as a ex-gangster, Giovanni would only want to ensure that his offspring would learn how to defend themselves. However, it seems ludicrous that the children would know how to handle guns so well, treat school as if it were a drug business, and do anything they want (allusion to the mini-sex scene).

So why haven't I mentioned the fair Maggie Manzoni, played by Michelle Pfeiffer? Well why should I? Her performance wasn't much of a performance, per say. There were small things about this character that added short bursts of humor to the film, but overall, I'd say that she wasn't a necessary character to have.

All in all, director Tonino Benacquista crafted a humorous work of art while maintaining a great show of suspense.

I rate this film a 3/5.