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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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The
Family Man
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Reviewed
by: |
Michael
Steinbacher |
| Genre: |
Drama
|
| Video: |
Widescreen
anamorphic 2.35:1 |
| Audio: |
English
DTS, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, French Dolby Surround |
| Language: |
English,
French |
| Subtitle: |
English,
French |
| Length: |
126
minutes |
| Rating: |
PG-13
|
| Release
Date: |
07/17/01
|
| Studio: |
Universal
Studios |
| Commentary:
|
3
of them. Director Brett Ratner with writers David Diamnond and
David Weissman; Producer Mark Abraham; Music score commentary
with Danny Elfman |
| Documentaries:
|
None |
| Featurettes:
|
1
|
| Filmography/Biography:
|
Yes,
both. |
|
Interviews: |
None
|
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
Original
theatrical trailer |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
9
deleted scenes and the opening scene with an alternate music
track |
| Music
Video: |
Seal,
"This Could Be Heaven" |
| Other:
|
Outtake
reel, "Hi-Jack Montage," "Choose Your Own Fate" interactive
quiz, Production Notes, DVD Recommendations, DVDRom extras including
games and screensavers. |
| Cast
and Crew: |
Nicolas Cage,
Tea Leoni, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven, Saul Rubinek |
| Screenplay
by: |
David Diamond
& David Weissman |
| Produced
by: |
Howard Rosenman |
| Directed
By: |
Brett Ratner |
| Music: |
Danny Elfman |
| The
Review: |
Jack (Nicolas
Cage) is a workaholic Wall Street financial wizard who has chosen
the life of New York sophistication and high finance over the
life of wedded suburban bliss. He thoroughly enjoys the way
his life has turned out and has placed a premium on his own
success at the cost of a well-developed personal life. Then
one fateful Christmas Eve he has a run-in with a would-be thug
in a convenience store who pulls a gun on the cashier. Jack
intervenes selflessly and oddly enough manages to defuse the
situation with the thug, named Cash (Don Cheadle), by wheeling
and dealing with him as if he were one of his client. Outside,
Jack tries to give Cash the old "a little hard work goes a long
way" pep talk and lectures him on the danger of making bad choices.
It turns out the chagrined Cash is an angel of sorts, and he
decides Jack needs a lesson in the nature of choices. Thus begins
Jack's odyssey into an alternate reality, a glimpse, in which
he finds out how his life would have turned out had he chosen
familial love over professional career by marrying his college
sweetheart Kate (Tea Leoni). Jack wakes up on Christmas morning
13 years into a marriage with two cute kids, a downscale home
in suburban New Jersey, and a less-than-high-finance job as
a top salesman at New Jersey's third largest tire dealership.
Of course Jack is appalled at the supposed step down into what
he at first deems utter mediocrity, but on his journey he finds
he loves the family life and that perhaps his penthouse suite
and multimillion dollar bank account aren't all they're cracked
up to be compared to a substantive life surrounded by people
who genuinely love him. Ultimately, The Family Man is an exploration
of how choices impact our lives and the lives of our friends
and family. That this theme is explored without being overly
preachy or judgmental is a refreshing take on the old-fashioned
"What-If" syle of filmmaking. |
| Image
and Sound |
Good video
quality, although the sharpness wasn't as good as I expected
playing back on my DTV with a progressive scan DVD player. Still,
it's adequate. The sound quality was very good. It's a low action,
high drama flick, so there's not a lot of needs here. |
| The
Extras |
Well, there
are certainly a lot of extras on this DVD. Unfortunately, this
seems to me to be one of those packages where they throw in
this, that, and the other thing just to fill up the space available
on the disc. There are three separate commentaries, the most
interesting of which is the one with Ratner and the writers.
Even this one though, is not terrifically engaging. They have
good banter going on, though, and you do learn a bit about choices
made in adapting the script to film. Danny Elfman's score commentary
would probably be interesting to those who are intensely interested
in such things, but it really didn't do anything for me. The
Spotlight On Location Featurette is a serviceable summary of
what the film is about, but it isn't necessary. I felt it came
off as an extended 20 minute trailer for the film and as a tedious
and repetitive declaration of how lucky they were to have gotten
Cage to take the part. The deleted scenes are interesting, but
there is no commentary to place them in context or to explain
why they were cut. The outtake reel is of the boring variety
where actors laugh at each other's screwups for no apparent
reason (I vote this whole outtake reel thing go the way of VHS).
Then there is something called the "Hi-Jack Montage," which
is nothing more than a half a minute of clips from the movie
where people say some variation of "Hi, Jack." Completely pointless
and not funny. Seal's video is for a substandard song and places
him in various scenes of the movie in what amounts to 4 minutes
of inane sentimental goo. The Choose Your Fate quiz is also
silly. It's basically a series of multiple-choice questions
(some of which don't even have applicable choices, if you're
like me) about your family and work priorities that ends with
a generated quote from some great writer or philosopher. The
production notes are pretty much a standard brief overview of
the making of the film. All in all, as I said, there are lots
of extras, but I think my time could have been better spent.
Sometimes, less is more. |
| Commentary |
The director
and writer commentary is the best one. Ratner clearly wanted
to make this movie and lobbied hard for the opportunity, which
is interesting since it's such a change of pace from his earlier
work like "Rush Hour" and "Money Talks." There's some good chemistry
between him and the writers, but overall it's fairly dry as
commentaries go. The producer commentary actually physically
put me to sleep. Elfman's commentary on the music arrangements
would probably engage certain people; unfortunately I wasn't
one of them. |
| Final
Words: |
The director
and writer commentary is the best one. Ratner clearly wanted
to make this movie and lobbied hard for the opportunity, which
is interesting since it's such a change of pace from his earlier
work like "Rush Hour" and "Money Talks." There's some good chemistry
between him and the writers, but overall it's fairly dry as
commentaries go. The producer commentary actually physically
put me to sleep. Elfman's commentary on the music arrangements
would probably engage certain people; unfortunately I wasn't
one of them. |
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