FAMILY PLAN, THE
(director/writer: Simon Cellan Jones; screenwriter: David Coggeshall; cinematographer: Michael Burgess; editor: Tim Porter; music: Kevin Matley; cast: Mark Wahlberg (Dan Morgan), Michelle Monahan (Jessica Morgan), Zoe Magaret Colletti (Nina Morgan), Van Crosby (Kyle Morgan), Iliana Norris(Max), Claran Hinds (McCaffrey), Maggie Q (Gwen), Said Taghmaoul (Augie), Colby Burton (Trevor); Runtime: 118; MPAA Rating: PG-13; producers: Mark Wahlberg, David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Don Granger, Stephen Levinson; Apple TV+; 2023)
“It could have been worse, if instead of Las Vegas they could have been vacationing in Atlantic City.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Brit TV director Simon Cellan Jones (“The Queen’s Sister”/”Coup!”) weakly directs and David Coggeshall lamely writes the formulaic script for this robotic executed action-comedy that’s filled with cliches and characters who are one-dimensional.
For the last twenty years Dan Morgan (Mark Wahlberg), a former special forces op, works as a used car salesman and does not allow photographs taken of him. He has hid from everyone that he worked undercover as an elite government assassin.
But 18 years ago he quit his undercover job when the missions become too amoral.
The mild-mannered, cornball quipster, then marries the rehabilitation therapist Jessica (Michelle Monahan), who has no idea he was a government assassin. They live a quiet life in the suburbs of Buffalo and raise two normal teens (Zoe Magaret Colletti & Van Crosby) and also in an unexpected pregnancy have a 10-month baby (Iliana Norris).
When Dan’s attacked while shopping in a supermarket, things get hot because he’s been uncovered. So Dan takes his unsuspecting family, for safety, on a cross-country road trip to Las Vegas for a vacation, where he quietly takes care of those who attack him on the road.
In Vegas, his ex-boss (Claran Hinds) arrives and wants him to re-up with the government agency. He refuses the offer, and over a restaurant dinner tells his wife about his past job.
The actors are game for this B-film, but they can’t overcome such an uninspired screenplay even if it’s efficient.
The villains are nondescript and the comedy is strained; but it could have been worse, if instead of Las Vegas they could have been vacationing in Atlantic City.
REVIEWED ON 12/31/2024 GRADE: C-