Tonight we watched a film, that to all intents and purposes should have been viewed over Christmas, but time did not allow. It is not necessarily a Christmas movie per se, but it is festive and has all the correct undertones for a festive feelgood movie, but what is it you may ask? Well, tonight we watched;
The Family Man
Released in 2000, The Family Man stars Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni in a movie set around Christmas time in New York.
Cage plays Jack Campbell, who we meet at the start of the film, saying his goodbyes to his sweetheart Kate Reynolds (Téa Leoni), as he embarks on what is suggested to be a year in London, however it doesn't turn out that way and after the opening scene, we cut to Jack 13 years later, who is now a very successful and very rich investment broker. Kate is clearly no longer in the picture.
From here we depart from the set up phase of the movie, our characters have been introduced. We have their back stories. And we have their current positions. From this start, we take up the fantasy and somewhat festive life swap scenario, so prevalent in stories of this kind. And that is not such a bad thing, A Christmas Carol being the original and best of this genre.
So a chance meeting, with what turns out to be Jacks' first ghost or his guardian angel, or his inner conscience, or whatever form the initiator of the "life change" takes, if you follow my drift, and we see Jack fall asleep, only to awake in his alternate world, living the life that would have been, if only he had not boarded that aeroplane to London.
So he now lives a life of domestic bliss, married to Kate, with two kids, a dog, a steady job selling tyres and a house in the suburbs of New Jersey.
All Jack has to do, is work out why, how, when and what. Why is there? How does he get back? When does he get back to his 'real life'? And what is his 'real life' anyway?
The Family Man is a really good example of a film of this genre. We see the alternate consequences to decisions that were made years ago. How one decision can make so much of a change in ones' life.
At just over two hours long, it is quite a long film, for this type, but it does fill the story fully and certainly keeps you guessing as to which way Jack and Kate will go. And which is the 'real life' for them?
My only criticism is, the ending was somewhat up in the air, although you can see where they are going to, there was no real closure and it wasn't a definitive answer. Which is a real shame, as up until the last 5 minutes, it was a good, romantic, funny, touching and enjoyable film. It just required one extra closing scene, just to reaffirm the ending. Never-the-less, a really good film, certainly one to watch around Christmas and a really great example of the genre.
I suppose I should round off with a mark out of ten, as is the requirement now! So, we give The Family man; 7 out of 10.
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