Movie Review: A Family Man (2016)

Genre: Drama  

Director: Mark Williams  

Starring: Gerard Butler, Gretchen Mol, Alison Brie, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina  

Running Time: 108 minutes  

Synopsis: In Chicago, Dane (Gerard Butler) is a high-performing workaholic at a headhunting agency, habitually ignoring his wife Elise (Gretchen Mol) and their children. He routinely uses unethical tricks at work, but still cannot find a position for unemployed aging engineer Lou (Alfred Molina). The agency's boss Ed (Willem Dafoe) is retiring and encourages cut-throat competition between Dane and Wilson (Alison Brie) to determine his successor, but a family crisis threatens to derail career ambitions.

What Works Well: This work-versus-family drama probes the pressures of being the sole income provider, and the dangers of being sucked into the take-the-next-work-phone-call-at-any-hour ethos. Gerard Butler creates a worthwhile character out of Dane, who has evolved into an unlikable and selfish man never available to his family, and disturbingly comfortable with maliciously manipulating lives and careers for personal gain. The plot's maturity registers in the respectable time it takes for the family crisis, once it strikes, to seep into his consciousness.

What Does Not Work As Well: The script displays a tendency for repetition, providing several examples of Dane's immoral work practices, and replaying the same argument with Elise more than once. Alison Brie is underused, and the dramatic moments in the final act quickly creep from sensitive to schmaltzy. 

Key Quote:

Lou (to Dane): Every family has its issues. But you only have one family.

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