Robert De Niro hasn’t exactly been shy about spoofing his history with mafia and other gangster movies. The results, however, have often been mixed, even within franchises such as Analyze This and Analyze That. Can Luc Besson – better known for action thrillers than comedy – make the idea work? We’ll find out once The Family arrives in cinemas, but for now the trailer is online.
The film, formerly known as Malavita, finds De Niro as Giovanni Manzoni, a mobster who decides he’s had enough of the organised criminal life. But when he decides to inform on his old colleagues to the Feds, his safety is put in danger.
So he and his family – including wife (Michelle Pfeiffer), daughter (Dianna Agron) and son (John D’Leo) – are put into witness protection. After several unsuccessful attempts to have them settle somewhere in the States, they’re eventually sent to a sleepy French village by their handler (Tommy Lee Jones).
Somehow, though, they just can’t let go of their old ways. Soon shops are blowing up, schools are being corrupted and teenagers are being punched. And they’ll need to be on the lookout for the mob types hunting them down.
This could turn out to be a winner, even if it seems that Besson is happier when things are going kaboom than when real emotion is required. T****he Family will be over here on November 8.