The Family (2013)

If you think about it, we have seen Robert De Niro (The Irishman) play every aspect of a gangster from a mob boss to a soldier, but he has never played one that was a rat or in witness protection (as far as I know). Well that was until today because I found a film that seemed interesting enough to watch on Tubi in the 2013 black comedy The Family which was adapted to the screen and directed by Luc Besson (Leon: The Professional) based on the book Malavita by Tonino Benacquista. The film stars De Niro as former Mob capo now mob informant Giovanni Manzoni or known as Fred Blake. Fred and his family settle in Normandy, France hoping that this spot could be the one, but you know what they say? You can take the mobster out of the mafia, but you can't take the mafia out of the mobster (maybe they don't say that). The film also stars Michelle Pfeiffer (The Witches Of Eastwick) as Maggie Blake, Dianna Agron (I Am Number Four) as Belle Blake, John D'Leo (Orange Is The New Black) as Warren Blake, Tommy Lee Jones (The Hunted) as Stansfield, Jimmy Palumbo (Beer League) as Di Cicco, Domenick Lombardozzi (The Irishman) as Caputo, Stan Carp (Little Children) as Don Luchese, Vincent Pastore (Vault) as Fat Willy, Paul Borghese (The Toxic Avenger Part II) as Albert, and Oisín Stack (Redwater) as Henri.

The film is definitely a dark comedy to say the least, but laced within are some serious topics and one of them definitely deals with De Niro's daughter who at one point contemplates Suicide after he she gives herself away only to be rejected later by the man she thought loved her. That was kind of a heavy moment in a film that was filled with a lot of fun moments provided by De Niro and Pfeiffer (who was masterful once again). One of my favorite moments of the film comes towards the end when De Niro's character goes to a cinema night where he is the guest of honor and while there was a mistake in the shipment, the new film they watch is the classic Goodfellas which De Niro starred in and to see him relish in it was great. He then proceeds to act like the film was based off of his own life as he is talking to the crowd of Frenchman. I thought that was a nice nod to his career in gangster movies and a chance to talk about it in a different way. This is a family of bad asses who can't seem to let go of their bad ass lifestyles long enough to pass as different people. I also loved the combo of De Niro with Tommy Lee Jones as they played a good version of the Odd Couple in this film. Jones just looks so weathered and beat up like he's almost had enough of De Niro's crap, but he knows he has to take care of them. This was actually a really good film and I honestly didn't think it was going to be when I first went into it. I am definitely glad that I did and that is why I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.