Themes: Lovers Reunited, Fish Out of Water, Haunted By the Past
Main Cast: Nicolas Cage, Téa Leoni, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven, Saul Rubinek
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 125 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
In this whimsical romantic comedy that recalls It's a Wonderful Life, Nicolas Cage plays Jack Campbell, a workaholic bachelor who gets to see what his life might have been like had he stayed with his old sweetheart, Kate (Tea Leoni). Thirteen years before, Jack accepted a brokerage internship that marred his relationship with Kate, under the promise that they would only be separated one year. But much later, Jack has become an urban Wall Street exec with no wife or family of his own, and a mysterious proxy (Don Cheadle) offers him the opportunity to step into the life he left behind. After falling asleep in his posh New York apartment, Jack awakens to find himself in bed with his now-wife Kate, daughter Annie (Makenzie Vega), and a new baby, none of which he has ever experienced in his fast-paced single life. After discovering his "real" life has been eliminated, he begrudgingly tries to fit in with his newly appointed life as a family man. The Family Man also stars Saul Rubinek and Jeremy Piven. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
Review
A mishmash of earlier and better-thought-out holiday fables, The Family Man is redeemed by the warm, emotional performances of leads Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni. Embodying elements of every great Christmas story, from Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol to It's a Wonderful Life (1946), the film wanders through "message film" territory with considerable charm and humor but without much focus or precision. Subplots involving the blue-collar job of main character Jack Campbell, his relationship to his boss/father-in-law (Harve Presnell), and a possible extramarital affair are set up then hastily abandoned. Troubling too is the script's repeated assertion that a loving, committed marriage with children is too at odds with career success for both to be enjoyed simultaneously. The Family Man seems to want especially badly to make a grand statement about the struggle to balance family and work, but its conclusion seems to be that one must always be sacrificed for the other, not a particularly cogent or sagacious argument. Director Brett Ratner has much greater success with his cast, drawing top-notch work particularly from Cage, an actor prone to explore bizarre character tics and personality nuances when left too much to his own devices, but who delivers a surprisingly sympathetic and heartfelt performance here. Leoni rounds out her big-screen resume with a tender, compassionate role that is a welcome contrast to the cool, austere career woman she portrayed in her most recent film, Deep Impact (1998). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Josef Sommer - Lassiter; Makenzie Vega - Annie; Jake Milkovich - Josh; Ryan Milkovich - Josh; Lisa Thornhill - Evelyn; Harve Presnell - Big Ed; Mary Beth Hurt - Adelle; Amber Valletta - Paula; Francine York - Lorraine; John O'Donohue - Tony the Doorman; Daniel Whitner - Frank the Security Man; Tarri Markel - Neighbor/Party Guest
Credit
Steven A. Saklad - Art Director, James M. Freitag - Associate Producer, Matthew Barry - Casting, Nancy Green-Keyes - Casting, Betsy Herman - Costume Designer, James M. Freitag - First Assistant Director, Brett Ratner - Director, Mark Helfrich - Editor, Armyan Bernstein - Executive Producer, Andrew Davis - Executive Producer, Thomas A. Bliss - Executive Producer, Andrew Z. Davis - Executive Producer, Danny Elfman - Composer (Music Score), Happy Walters - Musical Direction/Supervision, Gary Jones - Musical Direction/Supervision, Kristi Zea - Production Designer, Dante Spinotti - Cinematographer, Marc Abraham - Producer, Zvi Howard Rosenman - Producer, Tony Ludwig - Producer, Alan Riche - Producer, Leslie Pope - Set Designer, Lori Rowbotham - Set Designer, Kim Ornitz - Sound/Sound Designer, David Weissman - Screenwriter, David Diamond - Screenwriter, Mat Beck - Visual Effects Supervisor, John Richardson - Special Effects Coordinator, Gregory King - Supervising Sound Editor, Darren King - Supervising Sound Editor, Leslie Pope - Set Decorator
The film centers on a man, who sees what could have been had he made a different decision thirteen years ago. It is similar to It's a Wonderful Life in that it begins on Christmas Eve with a life-and-death situation, involving an angel, who tries to convince the main character into taking an earnest look at his life. Moreover, in the end, the protagonists in both movies conclude that living a quiet family life is preferable to achieving success and wealth at work.
The film has also been compared to Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol in that, the protagonist is a greedy man, who cares little about anyone except himself, who then has his life outlook completely changed after a series of real-life "what if?" experiences.
Jack Campbell is a single, wealthy Wall Streetinvestment banker living the high life in New York City. All that magically changes one morning when he wakes up in a suburban New Jersey bedroom with the wife he never married and two kids. Jack realizes that he is living the life he could have had if he had not gone to London and become an investment banker but had stayed in the States with his girlfriend. While he desperately wishes to return to his high life, Jack is stuck in a "permanent acid trip" because an angel wants to teach the overly confident man a lesson. Jack struggles to fit into the role of a family man, making many serious blunders such as missing opening Christmas presents, flirting with a friend's wife and forgetting his anniversary. Very soon, Jack's young "daughter" realizes his secret and decides to assist him in surviving his new life. He begins to succeed in his life, bonding with his "children," falling in love with his wife and working hard at his dull job. He suddenly finds himself being offered a contract to work as a banker in New York. While his old businessman personality wants to accept the offer, his new family man personality realizes it would be a bad idea. He refuses the offer and happily settles into his life with his family. Just as Jack is finally realizing the true value of his new life, his epiphany jolts him back to his wealthy—yet as he now realizes, lonely—former life. In desperation, he forgoes closing his $130 billion acquisition deal to intercept the real woman he fell in love with in his dream before she heads off to Paris. He tells her about the happy family that they could have together; met with complete incredulity, he relates in impossibly precise detail what he remembers of his dream life. Shocked but intrigued, she agrees to a cup of coffee at the airport—suggesting that they might have a future after all.
Click, in which a man who puts work before his family is shown life where work wins out and his family leaves him.
It's a Wonderful Life, in which a man is able to see how things could have been if he'd never lived.
Mr. Destiny, in which an angel-like being shows a man how his world would have been if an event in his past happened differently.
Here Comes Mr. Jordan/Heaven Can Wait, which both end with the protagonist asking out his “soulmate from another life” for a cup of coffee, and her accepting.
