The Family Plan – A Tired Family Action Comedy

Holidays have been conducive to families coming together and spending time with one another. One of the most common activities for families is huddling around a screen and watching a film. Why not The Family Plan? It has the word “family” in its title and it involves a family so it’s only normal to expect it to do the job and for the most part, it does (probably not for those with younger children). While not a groundbreaking film by any means, it basically cobbles together a series of generic and derivative story beats in a way that will lead to some entertainment and then will instantly be forgotten shortly after the credits roll. Unremarkable and unmemorable in every single way, the best part of the film is easily the titular family and their dynamic. That being said, it doesn’t necessarily mean that their journey wasn’t seamless. Though incredibly stupid at times, there’s some fun to be found within it. However, not everyone is going to see it that way. In spite of its tired material, it certainly executes but its inconsistent humor, tone, and mediocre writing, along with a messy story, do ultimately hold it back from being anything more than a disposable time-filling distraction. Holding it all together is its decent cast, however, there’s only so much they can do.

The Family Plan sees the life of Dan Morgan (Wahlberg), a father of three who lived a simple life in the suburbs as a successful car salesman, turned upside down as his former life suddenly came back with a vengeance. Once an elite government hitman, he thought he had escaped that life when he laid down his roots and started a family, including his wife Jessica (Monaghan), his daughter Nina (Zoe Margaret Colletti), his son Kyle (Van Crosby), and a 10-month-old baby. But just as quickly as he laid down roots, Dan had to pack up his family as they embarked on a spontaneous cross-country road trip to Las Vegas. Forced to balance both of his lives as the walls closed in, Dan vowed to protect his family under the guise of the vacation of the lifetime. Inevitably, something had to give as these lives eventually converged but where the film falters is its attempt to consolidate all the threads and subplots and bring everything back together.

In the end, the story was more about the journey than the destination and letting that dynamic of the Morgan family play out. Running a bit too long at nearly 2-hours, that journey could have definitely been streamlined a little more but it does let each family member somewhat shine, albeit through a series of derivative and predictable beats. Unfortunately, all of that seemed to be for naught as the bulk of the story took over. As the film came to its conclusion, it simply devolved into a mess full of terrible writing, thin character development, and lacklustre action. While the Morgan family shined, Dan was left out of that mix for whatever reason. He had the skills; however, he didn’t get much of a chance to show them as he played too small of a part overall, outside of a cut short gag action sequence. Pushing the family aspect of the story perhaps too much, the film as a whole kind of suffered as a whole. The line that is likely to divide most audiences is between those who favor the former or the latter. While a path to both was there, the film chose not to take it, opting for the easy way out narratively and technically speaking.

As mentioned, the saving grace of The Family Plan is its cast, specifically the chemistry of Wahlberg, Monaghan, Colletti, and Crosby as the Morgan family in another case of the whole outweighing its parts. The other three help elevate a rather wooden Wahlberg whose performance had him frantically go through the motions. Devoid of charisma or emotion, he needed the others to prop him up and help bring the rest of the central family dynamic to life. Though the material did not do them any favors, Monaghan, Colletti, and Crosby were each solid and did their part in balancing out Wahlberg’s energy. Despite the latter, they were still fun to watch. It’s just a shame that they were squandered by the film’s final act.

At the end of the day, The Family Plan delivers a solid yet forgettable action comedy featuring subpar humor and an overly-generic plot.

still courtesy of Apple Original Films

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.