So what if it’s Luc Besson, Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tommy Lee Jones and whoever else – The Family really isn’t worth it. It’s supposed to be funny (I’m assuming) – it’s not really that funny, and I’m not just saying it’s not because it’s a ‘black/dark’ comedy. Try Eating Raoul instead. It’s easy to see how it was supposed to be very good and funny, but everything is just a little bit off all the time here.
I’m tempted to chuck this in the waste of time category and include some spoilers here… although the image above is already spoilerish. But who doesn’t know what happens in this movie in advance (pretty much all the way to the end).
Some amazing effects and ‘set design’ obviously, coupled with some heart-breaking acting performances (if you’re in the right state of mind for that kind of thing – which I unfortunately wasn’t on that day).
Expected something better from Juan Antonio Bayona, but I guess he didn’t have much to work with and had to concentrate on the visuals instead and try to get what he could from the actors, who under these circumstances were ok I suppose. None of them were particularly memorable, and Naomi Watts was at times a bit hard to watch, Ewan McGregor over the top at times; the kids were pretty good mostly though.
The main negative criticism really is to do with how the story deals with what actually happened, and considering this can really affect your opinion of this movie. Just so you know.
We’re back, after a long break, time to try reviving these rave reviews… never say never applies to many things. Let’s start with something different to what we usually try… a bad bad film and bad bad review, solely to help you steer clear.
Despite having heard it’s crap and thus knowing what to expect, I ended up watching Oliver Stone‘s Savages.
The general rule should be to only watch good movies and only write reviews of good movies, as time is limited. But as I’ve already wasted my time on this, if I can save anyone else from wasting 141 minutes on this, the review is worth it. It’s shit. Don’t bother. There. Trailer was good though.
Oliver Stone – I don’t think he was even there. Can’t really explain the results any other way.
John Travolta – supporting role and completely wasted (no pun intended).
Benicio Del Toro – I didn’t particularly like it, although some might disagree. Definitely not even close to his best.
Salma Hayek – pretty much wasted.
The main cast – who are they anyway?
My favourite quote is not from the movie, it’s from imdb reviews: “… Taylor Kitsch has no charisma. None. The furniture was more interesting than he was, and had more emotional range. …”
Please don’t confuse with The Savages (2007) which is worth seeing. That’s enough, that’s already more words than Savages deserves.
