Luc Besson
Cose nostre - Malavita

The Family, or Cose nostre - Malavita, is a film with an exceptional cast, directed by Luc Besson, featuring, among others, Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Tommy Lee Jones. It appeared in theaters in 2013 and enjoyed a fair box office success, but is now generally considered one of the minor films of the aforementioned artists, so much so that few still talk about it.

The film tells the story of the family of the mafia informant Giovanni Manzoni, who is in the witness protection program and has to move from the French Riviera to a small village in Normandy. In fact, Don Lucchese, the boss whom his words sent to prison, is hunting him down and has put a bounty of twenty million dollars on Manzoni's head.

Thus, the Manzonis become the Blakes, and under the protection of some FBI agents, they are engaged in integrating into the new community while maintaining a low profile. However, from the very first day, everything goes awry. The wife, Maggie, blows up a Frenchman's market with a camping gas tank because he was too cheeky; meanwhile, the son, Warren, beaten by bullies, weaves a web of petty crimes to exact his own revenge, while the daughter, Belle, smashes a racquet into the face of a clumsy but arrogant harasser. Meanwhile, the head of the family dedicates himself to writing his memoirs, giving way to a continuous blending and interpenetration of the past into the present and of memory into the new reality.

In any case, one way or another, the Blakes manage to integrate, and thus, in the new context, their lives develop independently of each other like branches sprouting from the same trunk.

However, since they often forget to forget their past behaviors from when Giovanni was the Boss of Little Italy, and continue to leave clues in their path, in no time, Don Lucchese, in Albany prison, learns where they have taken refuge. He immediately sends hitmen whom the two children, just as they're about to leave the nest, see arriving in town. They decide to "return home" to face them together with their parents in an explosive finale.

The film was born from an agreement between Luc Besson's production company and an American independent company, which provided for the production of two films: this one and 3 Days to Kill, also written by Besson, an action film.

Is The Family - Cose nostre - Malavita one too?

For me, no, in this you can see the hand of the book's author, Tonino Benacquista, and the actors who lightly step into their roles. The result is a gangster movie with a dark comedy twist. A bit like in a Fred Buscaglione song, in which ruthless hitmen are portrayed as charming rogues, here there is a distorted and caricatured representation of all the literary stereotypes about the American mafia, where with comedic intent all mafiosi and police behaviors are amplified and exaggerated.

A film I recommend for spending less than two hours lightheartedly amidst laughter, some action, and a touch of romance.