In New York, the mobster Giovanni Manzoni (Robert De Niro) makes a deal with FBI agent Robert Stansfield (Tommy Lee Jones) and snitches his mafia family. In return, Giovanni is included in the witness protection program and receives a new identity, Fred Blake. Giovanni, together with his wife Maggie (Michelle Pfeiffer) and their teenager children Belle (Dianna Agron) and Warren (John D'Leo),are relocated to the small town Cholong-sur-Avres, in Normandy, under the protection of Stansfield and two other agents. Meanwhile the mafia offers a 20 million-dollar reward to the killer that executes Giovanni and his family. Soon the Blake family uses the mafia methods to improve their lives in the town. But when the mafia accidentally discovers the whereabouts of the Manzoni family, Cholong becomes a no man's land.

"The Family" is a funny black humor comedy by Luc Besson about a family that travels to France under the witness protection program. The story has memorable moments, and my favorite is the reaction of Maggie when she goes to the small supermarket and feels offended. The conclusion uses many clichés and is weak, but watching this movie is worthwhile. It was a great entertainment for a Saturday afternoon without beach in Rio. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Família" ("The Family")

If Robert DeNiro's character from either Goodfellas or Casino had gone into witness protection you would have some idea of what The Family is all about. In fact the film Goodfellas has an interesting part of the story.

For reasons we're never quite made aware DeNiro has ratted out the big Boss of the his Mafia family. Of course there's a contract out on him and his family which consists of wife Michelle Pheiffer, Dianna Agron and son John D'Leo who are most steeped in Mafia culture. When things go wrong for them they react in the way problems are solved in the Mafia. That is the problem that FBI agent Tommy Lee Jones has. It's also the reason that the family gets constantly moved because they attract a lot of attention to themselves.

As we learn in a film like Goodfellas Mafia people just don't think like us ordinary people do. Ray Liotta's character was positively tortured in the small Montana town he got sent to because the culture was so radically different. In real life Sammy 'the Bull' Gravano started another life of crime while he was in witness protection.

Now The Family is in France, but hardly in Paris, in a small town in the Normandy area. Of course the big boss gets wind of where they are and there's a shootout in the end. Let's say that all of them have the skills that DeNiro has acquired.

The Family isn't anywhere close to the classic films that DeNiro did with Martin Scorsese, but it's good entertainment and it's in the tradition of Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad.

Though no one would call this family innocent.

A mafia movie starring Robert De Niro produced by Martin Scorsese? Well that should be something, right? Of course, you can give this two approaches. Expect the next Godfather or Goodfellas and be probably quite disappointed afterward. Or simply be curious about the premise and take into account that this is mostly a dark comedy. And I would say it's probably one of the biggest challenges to combine comedy and mafia into a really good movie. Director Luc Besson made the most of it I believe and I'm fairly certain that with anybody instead of De Niro as the male lead, "The Family" would have turned out considerably weaker, apart from Pacino maybe. Mafia and De Niro is just a magic bond and even if he never has to show great range here, it just works out pretty nicely.

The core of the film is that a criminal family targeted by the Mafia is given new identities and taken to France as part of a witness protection program. Unfortunately, the leopard doesn't change its spots and oh so quickly the father almost kills a plumber, the mother blows up a supermarket, the daughter beats up a classmate trying to grope her and seduces a teacher and the son quickly rises in the hierarchy of organized crime and cigarette trade at school. The humor in the movie is very dark and often based on violence, occasionally in imagined sequences. It's not for the easily offended. Sometimes it works well, sometimes it's not funny at all. It's definitely not among my favorite comedies of the year. What is very much in favor of the film, however, is the last half hour. With De Niro's character telling anecdotes about "Goodfellas" in a nice reference to himself in front of a big crowd, Tommy Lee Jones' character becomes fed up and desperate as he instructed everybody to stay as low-key as possible to not attract any attention. That was truly hilarious. At the same time, the mafia killers (led by Jimmy Palumbo who is truly a scary presence in this film and reminded me of an Italian Robert Duvall) are at it already and kill pretty much everybody who gets in their way. Another thumbs-up for Dianna Agron. I've seen her in many "Glee" episodes, but I didn't realize it was her until I checked the film's cast later on. I guess this means she really disappeared into character here.

"The Family" is a mildly entertaining crime comedy with a very well executed final half hour almost in the tone of the great films about organized crime. It's a bit of a shame we had to wait for De Niro and Tommy Lee Jones to reach the age of grandfathers until they finally made a film together, but the outcome is worth watching. All you need to do in order to enjoy this one is keep your expectations moderate.