...for veteran moviegoers, I think maybe we’ve seen "The Family Man" too many times before.
Fortunately, too, the filmmakers persuaded Nicolas Cage to do the featured part. With the exception of maybe Tom Hanks I can´t think of another actor who could carry off the Jimmy Stewart role so well. Cage appears intent on proving he can do anything from action adventure ("Face/Off," "Con Air," "The Rock") to serious drama ("Leaving Las Vegas," "Bringing Out the Dead") to romantic comedies like this one and "Moonstruck," and everything in between. He brings all of these ventures off with equal ease, a terrifically convincing actor. And as good as his costar, Tea Leoni ("Deep Impact," "Flirting With Disaster") is, without Cage, I´m afraid "The Family Man" would be a total loss no matter what mood the viewer is in.
Video:
As usual, I enjoyed watching Universal´s picture transfer. The screen size measures a healthy 2.13:1 anamorphic widescreen across a normal TV, with bright, glowing colors. There are a few moiré effects that appear from time to time, but they are minimal, and occasional scenes look a tad bit darker than they should, but, again, it´s nothing. Grain, pixilation, or other digital artifacts are not in evidence.
Audio:
The audio, available in either Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1, is natural and pleasing to the ear, but it´s pretty ordinary in terms of special aural effects. Needless to say, that´s because there is no need for any. There are, thankfully, no helicopters zooming overhead, nothing blowing up, no tires screeching around corners, no thunderstorms, so the rear channels remain mostly silent save for Danny Elfman´s musical track, which sometimes utilizes the surround speakers for a small degree of ambiance. The movie could just as well have been in monaural for all the audience would know; not that that´s bad, I might add. The audio merely does its job, as it should.
Extras:
For special features, Universal have also done their usual good work. This "Collector´s Edition" package includes, for instance, not one or two but three full-length audio commentaries. The first is with director Brett Ratner and writers David Diamond and David Weissman; the second is with producer Marc Abraham; and the third is a musical score commentary with composer Danny Elfman. Then, there´s a twenty-minute "Spotlight on Location" segment called "The Making of The Family Man" that takes us behind the scenes with some good cast and crew interviews. Nine deleted scenes and a series of outtakes are fun, although the latter become a bit redundant as we watch the actors crack up over their lines again and again. Next, there´s a brief "Hi, Jack" montage; a music video, "This Could Be Heaven," by Seal; a "Choose Your Fate" game (pretty silly); a few production notes; some cast and filmmaker biographies and filmographies; a theatrical trailer; and a surprisingly scant eighteen scene selections. English and French are provided for spoken languages, with English captions for the hearing impaired. All of this, I might add, is accommodated on a single, dual-layered disc.
Parting Shots:
It´s obvious that "The Family Man" would like to become a perennial Christmas favorite along the lines of the ones I mentioned in the beginning, but in order to do this it needs more than routine characters and stock situations. The movie is harmless enough and will provide adequate entertainment for audiences unfamiliar with the older, better releases. But for veteran moviegoers, I think maybe we´ve seen "The Family Man" too many times before.
Video:
As usual, I enjoyed watching Universal´s picture transfer. The screen size measures a healthy 2.13:1 anamorphic widescreen across a normal TV, with bright, glowing colors. There are a few moiré effects that appear from time to time, but they are minimal, and occasional scenes look a tad bit darker than they should, but, again, it´s nothing. Grain, pixilation, or other digital artifacts are not in evidence.
Audio:
The audio, available in either Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1, is natural and pleasing to the ear, but it´s pretty ordinary in terms of special aural effects. Needless to say, that´s because there is no need for any. There are, thankfully, no helicopters zooming overhead, nothing blowing up, no tires screeching around corners, no thunderstorms, so the rear channels remain mostly silent save for Danny Elfman´s musical track, which sometimes utilizes the surround speakers for a small degree of ambiance. The movie could just as well have been in monaural for all the audience would know; not that that´s bad, I might add. The audio merely does its job, as it should.
Extras:
For special features, Universal have also done their usual good work. This "Collector´s Edition" package includes, for instance, not one or two but three full-length audio commentaries. The first is with director Brett Ratner and writers David Diamond and David Weissman; the second is with producer Marc Abraham; and the third is a musical score commentary with composer Danny Elfman. Then, there´s a twenty-minute "Spotlight on Location" segment called "The Making of The Family Man" that takes us behind the scenes with some good cast and crew interviews. Nine deleted scenes and a series of outtakes are fun, although the latter become a bit redundant as we watch the actors crack up over their lines again and again. Next, there´s a brief "Hi, Jack" montage; a music video, "This Could Be Heaven," by Seal; a "Choose Your Fate" game (pretty silly); a few production notes; some cast and filmmaker biographies and filmographies; a theatrical trailer; and a surprisingly scant eighteen scene selections. English and French are provided for spoken languages, with English captions for the hearing impaired. All of this, I might add, is accommodated on a single, dual-layered disc.
Parting Shots:
It´s obvious that "The Family Man" would like to become a perennial Christmas favorite along the lines of the ones I mentioned in the beginning, but in order to do this it needs more than routine characters and stock situations. The movie is harmless enough and will provide adequate entertainment for audiences unfamiliar with the older, better releases. But for veteran moviegoers, I think maybe we´ve seen "The Family Man" too many times before.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]7474[/release]