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Jack Campbell (Nicholas Cage, Gone in 60 Seconds), a financial genius who owns a Wall
Street firm, a Ferrari and can get everything he wants, is on the verge of closing a multibillion-dollar merger. It is Christmas Eve but he is a lonely bachelor who has no one
to go home to. Thirteen years ago, he chose to go to England for a prestigious internship leaving his heartbroken sweetheart Kate (Tea Leoni), a promising law student. He does
a selfless good act to a mysterious stranger, Cash (Don Cheadle), and tells him he has everything he could ever want. On Christmas morning, he discovers what could have been
had he married his former girlfriend instead of pursuing his dream of becoming a powerful, rich man. He wakes up to an entirely new life with wife Kate, two kids and a job
selling tires.
Like Disney's the Kid,The Family Man is another retelling of Dickens' A Christmas
Carol. Although the film is a derivative, director Brett Ratner succeeds in presenting it as an interesting, entertaining, feel-good movie. Nicholas Cage does a fine job as a wheeler-dealer from Manhattan and as a bewildered husband. Tea Leoni charms and gives motherhood, life in the suburbs and loving wife a new dimension. Child actor Vega Mackenzie as their precocious lisping daughter Annie almost steals the show. The screenplay is effective although the film is a bit long (more than 2 hours) and Danny Elfman's musical score is sometimes overpowering.
The Family Man could have been a great family movie if not for the implied sexuality/nudity and profanity. It has touching moments that
affirm marriage and family values instead of tearing them down. But most of all, it shows the emptiness of fame and fortune when divorced from the treasure of love and family.
(Date Reviewed: February 16, 2001)
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