Family, The (Blu-ray) (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation Featurette-Making Of Featurette
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	111:52
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Luc Besson
Studio Distributor	Canal+ Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Robert De Niro Michelle Pfeiffer Tommy Lee Jones Dianna Agron John D'Leo
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Evgueni Galperine Sacha Galperine

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.40:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English (Burned In) English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     I have enjoyed many films by Luc Besson over the years from Atlantis to Nikita to The Fifth Element and more. I have found that even not so good Besson films still have a quality which makes them worth watching. His approach is always different to American studio product and generally more interesting for it. Accordingly, I was keen to take a look at this recent Besson project, shot in France but starring mostly American actors such as Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones. It was also executive produced by Martin Scorcese, making the film an interesting combination of talents. The film did not do particularly well at the box office only taking about $60m worldwide and wasn't loved by theatrical critics. I think these outcomes could have been driven by the film not being easy to pigeon hole into a genre as it is part comedy, part offbeat family drama, part gangster action film. The trailer makes it seem more like a comedy than it is. Despite this I found it an enjoyable and different film to watch.

     The film involves New Jersey mob boss, Giovanni Manzoni (De Niro) who turns on the family and provides evidence to put many of them away in jail. He and his family are taken into witness protection and are trying to live a quiet life in France but due to various issues, usually caused by them, have needed to move around. At the beginning of the film they have just moved to a new place in Normandy, arranged by their long-suffering FBI handler, Robert Stansfield (Tommy Lee Jones). Giovanni, known as Fred, has his family with him being his wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer), teenage daughter Belle (Dianna Agron) and slightly younger son, Warren (John D'Leo). The kids attend a local high school and Maggie tries to get into the local lifestyle with shopping and arranging parties. Giovanni needs to keep a lower profile so stays at home trying to write his memoirs. Things don't go well as the local French try things on with the family including dodgy tradesmen, rude shopkeepers and overly amorous teenage boys. Can the family assimilate into the local area without getting the attention of the mob back home who are scouring the world for them?

     As I said above, I quite enjoyed this film taking it on face value and enjoying it for what it is. It does not quite gel as an entire film, made up as it is of parts of different genres. This however does not mean that there isn't enjoyment in watching the great cast in interesting surroundings find their way in a new environment. De Niro and Pfeiffer are especially good, showing more than caricatures or the same characters they may have played in other films. The film is also nicely shot showing off the cobbled streets of Normandy and using the spaces well for action scenes. The film is based on a novel, Malavita by Tonino Benacquista.

     Well worth a look for fans of the stars, director or similar films.

Video

     The video quality is very good.

     The feature is presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080p HD encoded using the AVC codec.

     The detail and clarity is very good throughout. Shadow detail is excellent for what is a somewhat dark film at times.

     The colour is also very good with no issues to report.

     The only artefact was some minor aliasing.

     There are subtitles available in English for the Hearing Impaired plus burned-in subtitles for the French spoken.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is very good without being the best of Blu-ray.

     This disc contains an English soundtrack in DTS HD-MA 5.1 and an Audio Descriptive track in Dolby Digital 2.0.

     Dialogue is clear and easy to understand throughout.

     The music was of good quality mostly being the score by Evgueni and Sacha Galperine.

     The surround speakers were well used especially during action sequences and provided atmosphere throughout.

    The subwoofer provided support to the music and the action scenes.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     A small selection of extras.

Menu

     The menu includes music and motion.

Making The Family (10:17)

     Pretty standard EPK style making of where Besson discusses wanting to do a tribute to Martin Scorcese (who exec produced). There is also talk of casting, interviews with the cast, production design and some behind the scenes footage of action sequences. Fine without setting the world on fire.

The Many Meanings of F*** (1:15)

     A compilation of the different ways Giovanni uses the word in the movie.

    The Region A release is basically the same but doesn't include the audio descriptive track. Buy local.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall