Malavita – The Family (2013)

Malavita – The Family: Directed by Luc Besson. With Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron, John D’Leo. The Manzoni family, a notorious mafia clan, is relocated to Normandy, France under the Witness Protection Program, where fitting in soon becomes challenging, as their old habits die hard.

“Very few actors into their old age have been able to resist the temptation to play out their end years like the last five overs in a 50 over cricket match- keep featuring in any movie that pays decent money. Of late, industry stalwart Rober De Niro has been guilty of the same, but once in a while he does bring out the old sparkle, and more often than not, that is generally in a mobster themed movie. Ditto for The Family- a zany comedy about a family of criminals, who come in all genders and ages.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRobert De Niro is Giovanni Manzoni, a crime boss on the run from his gang, who he tattled on. Put under witness protection, he and his family have a hard time sticking to their given identities as Giovanni is unable to rein in his sadistic urges, leading to a murder here, and a bashing there. His family is not far behind though- Michelle Pfeiffer is one bad closet pyromaniac of a mother, Dianne Aragon is the beautifully dangerous daughter, and John Du0026#39;Leo is the young wheeler dealer gun, waiting to make a name in the business. The kids are a chip off the old block – brave and shrewd, with extremely practical, no nonsense attitudes. Tommy Lee Jones is the FBI agent who has to help these lunatics maintain a low profile. But all they keep doing, in different doses of hilarity, is making a war-zone out of a mofussil town.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eLuc Besson makes a fine comeback with this funny gangster comedy- the script is witty, the pace is fast, there are sudden scenes of shocking violence, and equal doses of laugh out moments. All the actors do a great job. This is a role meant for De Niro- he is a career don (Goodfellas, The Godfather, Casino) and this is right up his alley, a walk in the park. His interactions with his family are awesome, and at the end i was left wanting more of this family- a sequel on the cards? Michelle Pfeifferu0026#39;s beauty has not dimmed one bit, and Tommy Lee Jones maintains a straight face throughout the antics.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe Family is as much about a real family as it is about thugs. Growing up pains, romance, responsibility, will to survive- all of it is nicely packaged into a decent entertainer which has loads of laughter, guns, hammers, baseball bats, explosions, and everything else you love about the gangster movie genre- 7/10”