The Family (2013)

Directed by Luc Besson. Starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, John D’Leo, Dianna Agron, Tommy Lee Jones, Jimmy Palumbo, Domenick Lombardozzi, Oisín Stack, Stan Carp, Cédric Zimmerlin, Vincent Pastore. [R]

Following numerous relocations in the Witness Protection Program for snitching on a rival, a former mafia boss (De Niro) and his family settle in Northern France, but it’s not long before they’re up to their old tricks—son D’Leo creates a student “mob ring” at school, mom Pfeiffer blows up a store after the proprietors insult her, etc. The premise has potential, and you can’t fault the key casting, but the movie’s few humorous ideas and vignettes are spoiled by lazy writing and routine execution. There was never any doubt the story was going to culminate in a big shootout with the rival mafiosos out for payback, but did it have to be so clunky and disorganized? And why is the meta-reference to De Niro’s character attending a screening of a De Niro movie (Goodfellas) the only joke to be found in the scene? (It’s not even really a joke; just a setup without a punchline.) Also known as Malavita, which is the name of the family dog and Tonino Benacquista’s source novel, adapted for the screen by director Besson and Michael Caleo.

45/100