rdd@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Robert Dorsett) (12/29/89)
FAMILY BUSINESS
A film review by Robert Dorsett
Copyright 1989 Robert Dorsett
FAMILY BUSINESS stars Sean Connery as an elderly burglar in New York.
Dustin Hoffman appears as his estranged son, Dustin Hoffman, and Matthew
Broderick as *his* son.
The dynamics of the film are complicated. Suffice it to say that
Connery's character is a professional burglar. Hoffman's used to be one as
well, but gave it up, in favor of "legitimate" business. There is a conflict
between father and son. Broderick is portrayed as a smart kid who
mysteriously drops out of a master's degree program--to "join the family
business." His father isn't very happy about that, but his grandfather is
supportive. The rest of the movie deals with a caper and the various conflicts
among the three men.
This is a relatively serious movie, with good characterizations all
around. It's the first "serious" film Connery's been in in a LONG time (he
tends to favor action/adventure films, which he invariably shines in).
Broderick is surprisingly good as the grandson. Hoffman's well, Hoffman.
Everyone has a nasty side to himself: this isn't a gooey-feel-good Christmas
movie.
Don't get the impression that this is another THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY.
(which was also a good movie) It isn't.
Rating: 8/10.leeper@mtgzx.att.com (Mark R. Leeper) (01/03/90)
FAMILY BUSINESS
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1989 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Very substandard Lumet. A powerful
performance by Dustin Hoffman is not enough to save this
mismatch of story elements, but does raise it to a rating of
0.
Sidney Lumet is one of the best of American directors. His record
includes films such as TWELVE ANGRY MEN, FAIL-SAFE, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, and
NETWORK. It would be hard to match for intensity films such as EQUUS or
what may be his most powerful film, THE PAWNBROKER. But somehow something
went very wrong with FAMILY BUSINESS, a crazy-quilt patchwork that falls
apart at the seams.
The first and most unlikely matching is of Sean Connery, Dustin
Hoffman, and Matthew Broderick as three generations of the same family. At
least one review tells me the novel that the film was based on has everyone
being Irish-American. If that is true, and even if not, it represents an
appalling sacrifice of credibility for box-office appeal. The whole story
lies under the cloud of this initial foolishness. Grandfather Jessie is
Irish, his son Vito is Sicilian, and his grandson Adam is Jewish. It was
left ambiguous but Jessie's mother may have been Cherokee. Jessie is a
career criminal who led his son Vito into crime. Vito, however, eventually
broke with his father, married a Jewish woman, ran a meat provision company
that he not so secretly hated, and raised a Westinghouse scholar, Adam.
Adam, however, is rebelling from his father and wants to follow his
grandfather into crime, starting with the unusual robbery of a biological
research facility.
While the film is marketed as having substantial comedy, nobody seems
to have told director Lumet. FAMILT BUSINESS is a crime drama without very
much comedy. Even then the actors are mismatched since neither Broderick
nor Connery is equipped or prepared to match the intensity of a Dustin
Hoffman performance.
Somewhere Lumet seems to have lost control of the theme of the film.
The film becomes a defense of crime. It is full of likable criminals who
hawk stolen goods at Irish wakes. The nasty people in this film are people
who deal in real estate and lawyers, and big corporations, each of whom is
made to look worse than the others. Lumet seems to be saying that Adam
should go into likable crime because legal professions are all immoral.
In spite of Hoffman's performance--the only aspect that prevents this
film from getting a much lower rating--I would give this film a 0 on the -4
to +4 scale. FAMILY BUSINESS is bad business.
Mark R. Leeper
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