Movie Review: We’re A Nice Normal Family

We’re A Nice Normal Family
Action-Comedy [M18]
Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron, Tommy Lee Jones
112 min

3.5 out of 5 stars

By Eunice Lim

A conventional family drama about an unconventional household, We’re A Nice Normal Family is The Simpsons meets The Sopranos.

Directed by Luc Besson, the light-hearted movie follows the life of ex-mafia boss, Giovanni Manzoni (Robert De Niro) who snitches on his former mafia cronies. Under the witness protection programme, Giovanni and his family relocate to a small town in France.

Despite being a hunted man, Giovanni cannot resist confronting life’s everyday problems the ‘mafia way’, as he continues beating and threatening those who upset him. Even his teenage children Belle (Dianna Agron) and Warren (John D’Leo) behave like the ex-mafia boss — Belle doesn’t hesitate to pummel a classmate with a tennis racket, while Warren manipulates his peers by bribing and extorting from them.

Amid the mischief and mayhem caused by the family is the exasperated Agent Stansfield (Tommy Lee Jones), who tries his best to protect them from the mafia and integrate them into their new lives. The love-hate relationship between the characters of De Niro and Jones is endearing, as they reconcile their differences as gangster and cop and develop an unlikely but genuine friendship.

The performance of the cast is stellar with the Academy Award-winning trio of De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jones. Pfeiffer, especially, delivers a touching performance as a caring mother and loving wife, while providing much hilarity as a feisty arsonist.

But Dianna Agron, who left television series Glee for this movie, might disappoint those hoping to see her in a different role. The haughty, assertive character of Belle does not differ very much from Agron’s role as a cheerleader in the TV show. Perhaps it is due to this that Agron’s acting is unimpressive, especially alongside such a seasoned cast.

While the exaggerated petulance and waywardness of the family may have the audience laughing in the first half of the movie, the second half will have viewers gripping their seats as mafia cronies close in upon the heavily-outnumbered family.

Gun-fights and wrestling matches ensue and the subsequent bloodshed and casualties may be unsettling for some audiences, despite the consistent effort to include some comedic elements. It is also this confrontation with a common enemy that transforms the comedy into a family’s serious struggle to stay together.

Even though the movie might not stand out as a comedy or a thriller, We’re A Nice Normal Family successfully weaves together the elements of both genres and is altogether a wickedly entertaining must-watch.