The Family Man (2000) – Encore Review

“A little flirtation is harmless but you’re dealing with fire here. The fidelity bank and trust is a tough creditor. You make a deposit somewhere else, they close your account – FOREVER.” – Arnie

Number of Times Seen – 5-10 times (Jan 2001 in Theater, DVD, 3 Jul 2013 and 7 Feb 2018)

Link to original review – Here

Brief Synopsis – A successful businessman is given a chance to see what his life would have been like if he had not taken an internship abroad.

My Take on it – I recall seeing this film when it came out in the theater not knowing what to expect.

I have never been a big fan of Nicholas Cage and there are very few of his films which I can stomach on a regular basis.

On the other hand, I have always enjoyed Tea Leoni in her film and TV roles so I didn’t know which would do a better job here.

Thankfully I loved this film and it has always been a guilty pleasure of mine ever since.

The chemistry between Leoni and Cage is actually great and it’s quite easy to believe them as a couple together.

This is in some ways a reimagining of the premise of It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) and works quite well as a modern fable.

The supporting cast is also great and they are able to create a realistic world for all of these characters to inhabit.

The ‘glimpse’ of a life that Cage’s character receives is something that can really affect just about anyone on a personal level because there is so much to actually garner from the way the story is told to us.

WE all probably wonder at some point in our lives about the ‘what if’ and this film delivers a compelling and fun scenario of that kind of instance.

Bottom Line – A guilty pleasure of mine. Love the chemistry between the characters and despite not being a fan of Cage in just about everything he does, he is great in the lead.  This is a great revision of It’s A Wonderful Life (1946) in reverse and it works really well as a modern fable.  The characters all seem realistic and the story is created in a way that his ‘glimpse’ can affect just about anyone on a personal level. Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia –  According to the DVD commentary, the scene where Jack gets back into his minivan and the minivan won’t start was a happy accident that wasn’t supposed to happen. The director thought it was a perfect beat and left it in the final cut. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10) (upgrade from original review)

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