Yes, No, Maybe So? "Malavita"... Which is Now "The Family"
Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 11:07PM 
It's not every month, hell, it's not every year when we get the trailer to a new Michelle Pfeiffer movie so naturally we have to talk about Malavita again. Or, I guess, The Family as it's been rechristened before release. It's always a pity when a movie ditches a really specific title for one that could work for thousands of movies and thus stakes no claim on personality whatsoever.
Perhaps the trailer itself has personality. Let's watch and discuss.
[watches]
Okay. Only watch that if you're the kind of person who doesn't care about spoilers. IF you are this kind of person i envy you because the movie studios don't care about them either - they love shovin' them into trailers. I get the sense you're basically seeing the whole movie here. But we gotta break it down anyway as we do because...
LA PFEIFFER IS BACK
YES
- Michelle Pfeiffer saying "merci"
- This might be funny. It's kinda tough to tell in the trailer because so much of comedy depends on good editing and trailers never have a sense of that since they're cutting entirely different scenes and dialogue together for their specific 2 minute effect
- The return of Michelle Pfeiffer's Married to the Mob accent "we're not in Brooklyn anymore"
- Michelle Pfeiffer driving that car with those sunglasses
- Tommy Lee Jones has been on a real roll lately. Does this end the party or continue it?
- and Michelle Pfeiffer as fire starter. Bring it bitch.
NO
- After Silver Linings Playbook, I'd like to believe that Robert DeNiro is back to acting rather than cashing in but a mob comedy is probably not the place to believe that.
- Whenever trailers show this much of the wink-wink laughs and action, I worry about "those are all the best parts" and there's a lot of ways in which this might be super offensive (xenophobia, "hurting people is hilarious!" immaturity and so on) rather than funny.
MAYBE SO
- Luc Besson, in the director's seat, isn't totally reliable.
- The casting of the kids looks great visually but Dianna Agron coasts a lot on her looks and when you're playing Pfeiffer's daughter... well, she better take it up a notch. Pfeiffer never did that and good lord she could have coasted for decades with the ones she got.
- Also: Can you believe my restraint that I only used one photo of Pfeiffer to illustrate this?
Here's the trailer if you don't mind spoilers.
Are you a Yes, No or Maybe So?
Reader Comments (38)
The poster is terrible. Clearly the distributors don't really give a crap about this one.
I hope this is just like Hope Springs, or even Magic Mike to an extent: terrible trailer (Hope Springs) or un-indicative trailer (Magic Mike) for movies that turned out surprisingly good. Hope Springs had a delicacy and honesty not at all showin in the trailer; and you couldn't tell from its trailer that Magic Mike would be surprisingly rich and character-probing. My fingers are crossed for Michelle.
I am a no until I see a scene that is not punctuated by an Adam Sandler-type "director." This is Michelle Pfeiffer with Robert DeNiro, which unfortunately means mugging. Maybe it's called The Family now so they can dub it in over 200 languages? Michelle's glory years were the best.
looks fantastically corny
I had hopes for this one
alas, everything died
Nathan you deserve better as a Pfeiffer disciple and Michelle should have known better. My god this looks terrible and disposable certainly a waste of time for an actress still waiting for her genius to be appreciated.
Something to consider: aside from possibly "One Fine Day" (which, oddly, she played opposite George Clooney and should've been a slam-dunk), Pfeiffer has never--NEVER--given a bad performance. Hell, I'm hard-pressed to think of her even giving a mediocre one. So anything that acts as a vehicle for her has some worth.
Dback: I think she was great in One Fine Day... If I have to point out a "bad" performance of hers it would be Up, Close & Personal, but I think it was not entirely her fault there.
I am a TOTAL YES just because, as you said before, not every year comes with a Pfeiffer movie. :D
Not seeing this as oscary and to Michelle is this all hollywood were offering.
Looks horrible. What a waste of an awesome cast.
I really fancy some beurre de cacahuette now
Sadly, Michelle Pfeiffer doesn't make enough movies for me to ever be anything but a yes.
It looks horrible. But like @Alex, Pfeiffer always gets a yes from me.
@Dback--Reading your comment was a needle scratching on a record moment. There are people who don't love her in One Fine Day??? Does. Not. Compute.
I'm going to hate myself for every minute that I'm in the theater, but I'll be there. Ugh. But really it must be said: Dianna Agron? Why?
Dark Shadows Mafia
At least it's someone else than Moretz who's playing Pfeiffer's daughter in this one.
I really want this to do well even if it looks just 'ok' from the trailer. Michelle deserves a Meryl Streep type career revival , she really seems to have been forgotten a bit by Hollywood which is insane, she epitomizes movie star to me.
Michelle, my dear, WHY???
PD Malavita was a better title.
Really, I love the trailer. Think the movie is going to be loads of fun :)
Fernando - -'up close & personal' is probably my least favorite of her performances too. but i love her in One Fine Day.
She's forgotten because she asked to be forgotten. I have the same issues with her and Jodie Foster. If you're that talented, you have to learn how to pick your movies.
You can't be loved forever because you were great a million years ago.
You have to earn the love you want.
Pfeiffer and Foster just don't give a damn.
My least favorite is The Story of Us. The monologue at the end is painful to watch.
This could be disposable fun - I did laugh at all of Michelle Pfeiffer's scenes. And I actually thought Dianna Agron was very good in that first season of Glee before they turned that character into a complete trainwreck, so maybe she'll be raising her game here?
I want to like it, but dear lord what a messy trailer. I was hoping for something darker and thrillerish....not a Steve Martin hooopsy daisy movie
But she looks GOOOOOOD with those sunglasses
Dianna Agron is free from Ryan Murphy character assassination jail! Yay!
I think what Michelle Pfeiffer needs to resuscitate her career is a well-written TV show with a strong character where we can appreciate her talent on a regular basis, something like Weeds, Damages, The Good Wife, Mad Men, or even Nurse Jackie, The Big C, or Enlightened.
I'm a YES on this one, just because of her and Tommy Lee Jones, who's been pretty great lately.
I'm a yes to at least try. It looks slightly corny, but DeNiro's still far more awake even here than his 2001-2010 nadir period.
How about we actually see the movie before we completely write it off? It does look like a tonal mess, but Michelle in a leading role is enough for me to be excited.
Pam,
Do you want to kill Nathaniel? He is always protesting that while he loves that TV gives great actresses great roles, it's always best to watch'em on the movie screen :)
And to snatch Pfeiffer away for the TV crowd is too painful ;) haha
P.S. - She does have one of the most powerful producers on TV in her bed every night so... I'm willing to bet she doesn't want to do TV or else David O Kelley would have 100+ scripts to hand her immediately.
I mean, no offense to Edie Falco, Laura Linney, Vera Farmiga or Mary Louise Parker but if Michelle Pfeiffer wanted her own TV show, she'd have it instantly.
And the next one hopping to TV, I'm afraid, is Julianne Moore. I can see the signs. HBO movie, 30 Rock guest spot...
And people: Michelle Pfeiffer looks awesome as hell in this! That's all you need to say YES to this (mess?)
Another thing: how the hell would you promote a mob dramedy by Luc Besson? It's not as if The Lady was a hit... And that was Besson at his most acessible, bait-y self. And when has DeNiro had luck as a LEAD in this decade? 'Everybody's Fine' made 8 million out of their 21 million budget in Dec 2009 (let's not even talk about Pfeiffer who disappeared for years; most teens don't even know who she is)
I think we can all agree that Pfeiffer's "walking calmly away from an explosion" might be one of the most amusing of its kind. I don't recall many people reacting like that (I can think of one, but I can't place it), let alone a woman doing it.
The Story of Us is her worst performance,that last monologue ugh,mind you when she did Cheri no one blinked and no awards love for her best role in years,her look into the camera at the end.
Iffffy! I like the cast, but...
Nathaniel-are you 100% on Pfeiffer performances? I seem to recall there was something like 1-2 performances you had missed, but wasn't sure if that was still the case. Are she and Moore the only ones that you're at or shooting for 100%, or is there a member of the Kidman/Streep/Natalie Wood/Judy/Marilyn group of actresses you're also there or almost there?
Why is everyone so negative on this board sad :(
I guess I'll try and avoid the trailer until the film comes out, since I hate films being spoiled before I see it (w/the exception of reading the book first, film adapt after). I love Pfeiffer, and hope to see this for her, although I've yet to see "Dark Shadows" from last year. She was terrific in the little-seen "People Like Us" so I have hope she'll turn in another great performance in this. The poster is fine with me, but I really hope they consider changing the generic title back to that interesting "Malavita."
That's a very tonally inconistent trailer. I don't know if that's supposed to be a comedy or a drama, and I'm not wasting my time or money finding out.
NO.
Another Henry. I'll change mine to Henry O.
I found myself laughing at MP's bits, especially walking away from the explosion. Hate the title change. I've seen Yanks have that same experience with laughably poor French only to have the natives let them suffer and then reply in English. Always makes me smile. But back to the title. Malavita has a sense of danger, intrigue etc. The Family sounds like a wash. I'm a maybe.
And the poster sucks. Plus the trailer replays the supermarket event twice.......not looking good. Make me a maybe/maybe not instead.