Following in the footsteps of such holiday classics as, “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Scrooge,” “The Family Man” is a wonderful new comedy that takes you on the road less traveled.
Nicholas Cage plays Jack Campbell, a wealthy New York City businessman who wakes up one day to find that he is now married to his college sweetheart and has two young children. To his even greater horror, he now lives in New Jersey and is a tire salesman at his father-in-law’s businesss.
We learn that Jack and Kate Reynolds (Tea Leoni) were once engaged in college. Jack went to London for a year with Kate begging him not to go. Jack left, and he and Kate never got married.
Jack turns into a greedy business man who even works on Christmas Eve. One day a taxi driver, played by Don Cheadle, intervenes in Jack’s life. The drivers doing makes Jack wake up one morning to a life that is now the way it would have been if he hadn’t gone to London and had married Kate.
Jack can’t believe what has happened and has to become a husband and a father very quickly .As the movie goes on, he begins to forget his old life and becomes accustomed to his new one.
Nicholas Cage plays the role of Jack very superbly. He plays the two types of characters, the greedy jerk and the loving family man, and he does so equally well. When he begins to transform into his new self, he does so very convincingly. He has a nice role change in this romantic comedy, since he has been seen in only action films lately.
Tea Leoni as Kate has a great look and feel about her. She brings a lot to her character. During the times when she can tell that Jack is not really who he is supposed to be, she does a good job of covering up her disbelief. She also has a good connection with the children in the film.
Cash, the taxi-driving “Angel,” played by Cheadle has a major role in the film, but does not play his character up to its fullest potential. It didn’t feel like he was introduce thoroughly enough. When he did have screen time, he was a little flat and dull.
All in all I thought the picture was very well put together. It was a great holiday film. I loved the story line, even though it’s been done time and time again. I though this updated version was one of the best. The movie made me laugh and even made me want to cry at times. If you want to see a stellar romantic comedy this season, this is the one for you!