Themes: One Last Heist, Going Straight, Generation Gap
Main Cast: Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman, Matthew Broderick, Rosanna de Soto, Janet Carroll, Victoria Jackson
Release Year: 1989
Country: US
Run Time: 113 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
You've probably already guessed that the Family Business in this all-star melodrama is the business of crime. Adapted from a novel by Vincent Patrick, the film stars Sean Connery as Jessie McMullen, the patriarch of a family of career criminals, including his son Vito (Dustin Hoffman) and grandson Adam (Matthew Broderick). Vito has gone legit, but college-educated Adam remains loyal to his grandfather. Reluctantly, Vito joins his father and son on a big-time heist involving millions of dollars' worth of test-tube specimens. There's many a slip-up and betrayal before the three generations can find a common ground. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
This intriguing mixture of crime caper with family melodrama from director Sidney Lumet is one of the New York auteur's most underrated films, a delightful blend of character development, funny dialogue, and an absorbing story. Unfortunately, the film is hampered badly by two chronic and greatly debilitating problems that it never overcomes. The first is the film's puzzling, wildly inappropriate score. The true story behind the soundtrack's creation and employment must be a fascinating one, so utterly wrong in tone, style, and usage is it for the material. More than a handful of wonderfully written, acted, and shot scenes in the film are sabotaged by the dippy, simple-minded tunes that overwhelm everything in their trite path. If Jaws (1976) is one of the best examples of how much a great, coherent score can add to a film, then this is one of the finest examples of how bad compositions can ruin one. Then there's the less annoying but still problematic situation inherent in the film's casting; quite simply, Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman, and Matthew Broderick look absolutely nothing alike and couldn't pass for distant cousins much less three generations in one family. Lumet tries hard to explain the disparity with lots of cutesy side commentary about the family's crazy quilt of mixed ethnicity. Admittedly, it's a device that relates with clever symbolism to the genetic object of the family's theft scheme. It also soaks up a lot of the film's first act and feels after it's brought up for the umpteenth time like desperate posturing, an overly self-conscious effort to explain some dream casting. Family Business (1989) is a film that so nearly succeeds, it's painful to watch. A John Williams score and a few lines about adoption would have solved this film's problems and left viewers with a memorable, entertaining minor classic. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Bill McCutcheon - Doheny; Deborah Rush - Michele Dempsey; Marilyn Cooper - Rose; Salem Ludwig - Nat; Rex Everhart - Ray Garvey; James Tolkan - Judge; Marilyn Sokol - Marie; John Capodice - Tommy; Thomas A. Carlin - Neary; Willie C. Carpenter - "Caper" Cop; Ed Crowley - Charlie; Tony di Benedetto - Phil; Paul Forrest - Tenor #2; George Kodisch - Wake Cop; Hal Lehrman - Assistant DA; Joe Lisi - Desk Sergeant; Arthur Pierce - Convict; Wendell Pierce - Prosecutor; William Preston - Flask Mourner; Kas Self - Stand-in for Mr. Hoffman; June Stein - Diner Waitress; Alberto Vasquez - Prisoner #1; David Warshofsky - Parking Attendant; B.D. Wong - Jimmy Chiu; Luis Guzman - Torres; Jack O'Connell - Police Lieutenant; Conrad Fowkes - "Caper" Detective; Raymond H. Bazemore - "Caper" Guard; James Carruthers - Court Clerk; John Connell - Wake "Suit" Cop; Nick Discenza - Detective; Susan Korn - Margo; Dermot McNamara - Casket Mourner; Isabell Monk - Judge; Karen Needle - Denise; Aideen O'Kelly - Widow Doheny; Elizabeth A. Reilly - Phil's Girl Friend; Tom Dillon - Tenor
Credit
Ann Roth - Costume Designer, Sidney Lumet - Director, Andrew Mondshein - Editor, Cy Coleman - Composer (Music Score), Sonny Kompanek - Musical Direction/Supervision, Joe Cranzano - Makeup, Ilona Herman - Makeup, Tom Priestley Jr. - Camera Operator, Philip Rosenberg - Production Designer, Andrzej Bartkowiak - Cinematographer, Burtt Harris - Producer, Lawrence Gordon - Producer, Arnon Milchan - Producer, Jennifer Ogden - Producer, Gary J. Brink - Set Designer, Peter Odabashian - Sound Editor, Richard Burridge - Screenwriter, Vincent Patrick - Screenwriter
Jessie McMullen is a widower, a tough guy and proud of his past as a career criminal (now semi-retired). He raised his son Vito to follow in his footsteps, but Vito went straight once he had a son of his own, Adam.
Over the years, Vito became ashamed of his family's criminal past. He went into a legitimate business and has tried to raise his son right, which in his mind means keeping young Adam away from his deadbeat grandfather. Little does Vito know that this strategy has backfired; the mystery surrounding Jessie has caused Adam to idolize him.
Now that Adam is grown, he is in college with a scientific grant and has a bright future. So when he approaches Jessie with a scheme for a burglary, Vito is shocked and disappointed. He warns his son not to pursue this crime and even slaps his face to drive home the point. This pushes Adam even closer to his grandfather, who can't wait to take a shot at a million-dollar payday.
Vito is distressed, but not disinterested. The more he hears about the scheme, the more tempted he becomes to have three generations of McMullens embark on one great criminal adventure. And, in the process, he can watch out for Adam along the way.
The plan to steal valuable scientific research from a lab backfires horribly when Adam dashes back into the building to retrieve an important ledger, setting off an alarm on his way out. Vito and Jessie can only watch helplessly from afar as Adam is captured by the police.
The only way for Vito to get his son's sentence reduced or suspended is to inform on his own father. Vito's wife instructs him to do exactly that -- and, if necessary, go to jail himself as well.
Vito and Jessie hire an expensive lawyer. Discovering that the vials contained nothing but water and that the scientific research they stole had been faked, Jessie tracks down Adam's accomplice from the lab and makes him pay.
A judge finds all three McMullens to be at fault, but after generously placing both Vito and his son on probation, he throws the book at Jessie, tantamount to a life sentence.
Adam visits his grandfather devotedly in jail while banning Vito from his life. Vito's explanations that he did what he did for Adam's own good fall on deaf ears.
Jessie dies in prison, Vito arriving minutes too late to say a last goodbye. He agrees with Adam that the most fun they have had as a family was the robbery. Together they give Jessie a grand sendoff.
