'The Family' Review (complete with GIF's!)

Hello again blogosphere! I thought to finish off the lovely month that is March, I'd say goodbye by reviewing a totally underrated movie that came out ages ago, sound like a plan? I have to admit, I only watched it originally because it had Dianna Agron in it, and if something even vaguely 'Glee' related is made, I'm the first one to know about it. But the big question is, was it worth it? You'll have to read on and see my friends.

I can honestly say, no bias prevalent, that I really enjoyed this movie. I have to say, I was a bit dubious at first. The only thing I knew about the movie was that it centered around some guy who was in a mob. When you combine a mob movie with Robert De Niro, your first thought is violence - and lots of it. But no, I say this now, this movie is a comedy, 100%. Sure, there's violence here and there (the main character used to be in the mafia, what do you expect?), but are you going to be scarred for life? Definitely not. It's more like a dark, action comedy then anything else, so all you pacifists out there, I urge you to calm your farms.

The movie revolves around Fred (Robert De Niro), who having testified against many of his NYC mafia bosses and partners, now has a bounty of 20 million dollars on his head. In order to ensure the safety of him and his family, they're all shipped off by the government to somewhere in Europe. Unable to change their maniacal, homicidal ways, it seems that every 90 days, they're being moved to another location. This is where the movie begins, their FBI handler (Tommy Lee Jones) sick of their incompetence and shipping them off one final time to Normandy, France, leaving them with one final warning to keep a low profile.

Of course this doesn't go according to plan, the Blake family getting into all kinds of mischief. Within the first week, Fred's wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer) has managed to blow up the local supermarket, their daughter Belle (Dianna Agron, yay!) has extracted revenge on a significant number of her classmates, and their son Warren (John D'Leo) has put his forgery skills to good use in the black market of his high school.

Of course, the drama heightens majorly when it turns out that one of Fred's ex mafia bosses is after them. But, to continue my tradition of not revealing too many spoilers, I will leave it there with my plot retelling.

As I said before, I thought this movie was super awesome. It's fun, it's action packed and it's super enjoyable. What sets this movie apart from your traditional mafia movie is a) it's not one massive blood fest and b) it doesn't take itself so seriously. When it comes down to it, it's a comedy. Sure, they've thrown some dramatic elements in there as well, but even in the movie's most serious moments, there's a satirical undertone. Despite some of the movie's exaggerated and kind of absurd moments, it's able to produce some ample laugh-out-loud moments without compromising it's tether to reality.

What I really love about it is the way that the entire family is totally nonchalant about their majorly outrageous behaviour, and the fact that despite the Blake family's homicidal tendencies, they all still manage to form rather functional relationships with one another.

Apparently, some reviewers were saying that the movie has heaps of problems and a bunch of other stuff that I didn't care to read, but I seriously don't understand why. Why criticise a perfectly enjoyable movie? I don't understand. So you know, just disregard everything you read except Teenage Fanatic and tumblr (self promotion!). But seriously! I don't get it. The acting was super awesome from legitimately all of the cast, there were never any of those random, boring moments, and it was super funny. What more can you ask for in a movie?

So whatever, just ignore the haters because I'm gonna say it again, I thought it was pretty cool. If you're one of those people who can't handle any violence at all and are in the mood for an over the top, clean-cut family comedy, I'm afraid this movie isn't for you. However, if you don't mind a little murder here and there, and are after a smart, witty and seriously awesome motion picture, you've come to the right place my friends. Now all that's left to do is either be good and legal and download the movie from iTunes, kick it old-school and take a trip to the DVD store, or put your torrent to good use.

So that's the end of the post! I hope you all enjoyed my little random review there to end the month, and perhaps have even found something that has piqued your interest. A massively underrated movie I say. Anyway, I'm just rambling now, you're free to leave. Til' next time . . .

Annabel xx