'The Family ManNicolas Cage is one of those Wall Street sharks who specializes in making money off of corporate mergers. By all outward appearances, he's happy and successful, and if the largest pharmaceutical merger in history happens to be taking place over the Christmas holiday, he's more than eager to report to work and drag all of his staff in with him. His problem is that although he thinks he's happy, he really isn't. Ponder that one for a few minutes. 
As you probably guessed, Cage's bachelor ways are about to receive a sudden shock. A chance encounter with Don Cheadle in a convenience store leads to Cage getting a "glimpse" of what his life would have been like had he married former girlfriend Téa Leoni back in 1987 instead of getting on that plane to London. He awakens the next morning to find himself in a strange house, married (with two children and a dog), and working as a tire salesman. But at least he gets to bowl in a league Thursday nights.
Much of what makes The Family Man work is the intelligent way the script deals with its subject material and the questions it raises. Instead of being another cardboard Scrooge cutout, Cage's character has depth, with good qualities as well as bad. He seems like a real person, which lends the whole narrative a feeling of relevance. The film doesn't seek to portray his old life as completely vile or his new domesticated version as full of light and happiness, but instead shows how each lifestyle has advantages and drawbacks of its own. I found this a refreshing change from the "You can have it all" crap that advertisers constantly attempt to force-feed us.
The way the story plays out, director Brett Ratner never firmly states whether Cage is really experiencing this alternate reality, or whether it's only a dream. Cheadle's character is never clarified at all (we're not sure whether he's a street hustler or an angel, or maybe a little of both). On one hand, this ambiguity allows the audience the freedom of its own interpretation. On the other, it sure lets the filmmakers off the hook for a lot of sticky explanation. For the record, there's a scene late in the film which pretty much rules out the dream interpretation, which is unfortunate.
While this movie is busy meditating over the pros and cons of materialism versus love and family, it's also busy pushing product placements in front of our noses at every opportunity. This isn't good. But it emphasizes one of the ironic aspects of this film: here's a movie which is basically saying the materialistic lifestyle is superficial and lacking, while the media in general spend all their time convincing us that our lives are defined by what material goods we possess. Stated another way, what do you think the chances are that the people who made and financed this film don't own a lot of expensive cars, suits, and other toys themselves? If I was cynical (which you all know couldn't be further from the truth), I might say the filmmakers were telling the audience what it wants to hear for the sake of making a quick buck. Or in this case, a quick $8.75.
Of course, when Cage finally tracks down Leoni in real life, he finds she's married, has six children, and weighs 350 pounds. So he decides life as a bachelor wasn't so bad after all, and drives off into the sunset in his Ferrari. Okay, so I made all that up - what do you expect happens?
As you probably guessed, Cage's bachelor ways are about to receive a sudden shock. A chance encounter with Don Cheadle in a convenience store leads to Cage getting a "glimpse" of what his life would have been like had he married former girlfriend Téa Leoni back in 1987 instead of getting on that plane to London. He awakens the next morning to find himself in a strange house, married (with two children and a dog), and working as a tire salesman. But at least he gets to bowl in a league Thursday nights.
Much of what makes The Family Man work is the intelligent way the script deals with its subject material and the questions it raises. Instead of being another cardboard Scrooge cutout, Cage's character has depth, with good qualities as well as bad. He seems like a real person, which lends the whole narrative a feeling of relevance. The film doesn't seek to portray his old life as completely vile or his new domesticated version as full of light and happiness, but instead shows how each lifestyle has advantages and drawbacks of its own. I found this a refreshing change from the "You can have it all" crap that advertisers constantly attempt to force-feed us.
The way the story plays out, director Brett Ratner never firmly states whether Cage is really experiencing this alternate reality, or whether it's only a dream. Cheadle's character is never clarified at all (we're not sure whether he's a street hustler or an angel, or maybe a little of both). On one hand, this ambiguity allows the audience the freedom of its own interpretation. On the other, it sure lets the filmmakers off the hook for a lot of sticky explanation. For the record, there's a scene late in the film which pretty much rules out the dream interpretation, which is unfortunate.
While this movie is busy meditating over the pros and cons of materialism versus love and family, it's also busy pushing product placements in front of our noses at every opportunity. This isn't good. But it emphasizes one of the ironic aspects of this film: here's a movie which is basically saying the materialistic lifestyle is superficial and lacking, while the media in general spend all their time convincing us that our lives are defined by what material goods we possess. Stated another way, what do you think the chances are that the people who made and financed this film don't own a lot of expensive cars, suits, and other toys themselves? If I was cynical (which you all know couldn't be further from the truth), I might say the filmmakers were telling the audience what it wants to hear for the sake of making a quick buck. Or in this case, a quick $8.75.
Of course, when Cage finally tracks down Leoni in real life, he finds she's married, has six children, and weighs 350 pounds. So he decides life as a bachelor wasn't so bad after all, and drives off into the sunset in his Ferrari. Okay, so I made all that up - what do you expect happens?
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