Review of Family Man, The

Introduction

Nicholas Cage is one of the busiest and most versatile "A List" Hollywood actors, turning his hand to action, drama and comedy.

Family Man is a romantic comedy starring Cage alongside Tea Leoni. Cage chooses his career over his girlfriend Leoni and walks away from her at the airport despite her pleas for him not to leave. Thirteen years later, he is a hugely successful businessman, about to close a multi-billion dollar merger with a rival company. After an encounter with a mysterious character, he wakes up next to Leoni, finding that he has been married to her for thirteen years, with two children and a large slobbering dog...

Video

The video is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and as you would expect from a film made last year is of excellent quality with no dirt or grain evident.

The film is well made, but doesn`t offer much excitement visually, apart from Cage`s very nice Ferrari!

Audio

The disc carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, which is best described as adequate, rather than exceptional.

Being a romantic comedy, the soundtrack concentrates on the dialogue and there is little use made of sound effects – consequently the soundfield concentrates on the centre channel and front stereo pair, with only very occasional spot effects heard from the read channel.

The dialogue is however clear and understandable throughout the movie.

Features

Extras on offer include a making of, soundbites, music video, deleted scenes and hidden Easter eggs. Like the film, competent but not earth shatteringly interesting.

The disc is packaged in a white Amaray case which, being from Entertainment In Video, contains a single page of chapter break information attached to a fold out advertising pamphlet. If anyone from Entertainment In Video is reading this, please make a note to abandon this annoying practice immediately and separate the liner notes from your advertising materials.

Conclusion

Family Man is relatively enjoyable, but fails to stand out from its rivals in a crowded market for romantic comedies. The film is a bit slow at times, and more laughs would have helped maintain my interest during the later stages. The film had promise, but doesn`t quite deliver enough, despite good performances from Cage and Leoni and an appealing story.

The movie is well made and is presented well on this DVD, with an excellent picture and good sound. A good range of extras rounds off a competent but unexciting disc.