We might as well get accustomed to the notion that Robert De Niro’s career has entered a nostalgic phase.  The Family casts De Niro as a former gangster clearly modeled on his Goodfellas persona; in fact, the film literally references that earlier success late in the story.  De Niro’s current film, Last Vegas, looks like an senior citizen version of The Hangover, and his next, Grudge Match, co-stars the double Oscar winner with Sylvester Stallone as boxers pressured into a rematch thirty years after previous championship bouts.  It looks like Raging Bull vs. Rocky, fueled by Geritol and Maalox.  That may not be fair, but it is clear that these days De Niro is looking to the past as much as the future for his acting projects.

The Family casts De Niro as a mob snitch hiding in France with his family in witness protection.  A twist of fate clues the mob to De Niro’s location, so it is only a matter of time until something explodes — quite literally.  As directed by French auteur Luc Besson, the film veers between the old fish-out-of-water formula, as the family tries to adjust to yet another new residence, and the old ugly American formula, as the family alienate their new neighbors and the mob assassins turn a quaint French town into a bloody battlefield.  The violence, especially at the climax, is jarring and a hell of a lot more serious than anything that has come before, adding to the movie’s split sense of direction.

Much of the film is satire, but its targets are obvious and its approach scattershot. De Niro’s character is writing his memoir, telling tales and naming names, to the chagrin of his case officer, Tommy Lee Jones.  This seems artificial and even foolhardy, given the story, and it diffuses the narrative since it has no relation to the mob assassins — they are after him for past offenses, not secrets that he may spill.  Another issue is that the family members (wife Michelle Pfeiffer, teenagers Dianna Agron and John D’Leo) have their own problems, which are initially interesting but later fail to sustain intrigue.  Agron’s situation, in particular, ends in staggeringly stupid fashion.  But of course, the family that stays together slays together.  At least in France.

Besson’s film contains elements of originality and amusement, yet the script fails to maintain its amusing premise.  When it ultimately morphs into the slick family-under-fire action flick that probably lured Besson to the project in the first place it feels like a whole other movie.  Considering the talent involved, this cannot help but rate as a disappointment, although it is slick-looking.  ☆ ☆.  3 November 2013.