The Family Man: Critic Reviews

91%

MovieWeb: 3 reviews

53%

RottenTomatoes: 50 reviews

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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly (Top Critic)

50

The outsize ticky tackiness of Jack's new life has been stitched together out of the broadest possible series of middle American cliches.
Full Review » 11 years ago
Stephen Hunter Washington Post (Top Critic)

Too much of the movie is pure formula nonsense.
Full Review » 11 years ago
Susan Stark Detroit News (Top Critic)

25

The absolute choices it forces on its hapless hero are far too mutually exclusive to be credible.
Full Review » 11 years ago
Geoff Pevere Toronto Star (Top Critic)

It's the sort of steamroller seasonal entertainment calculated to make us average folks out here feel temporarily warm and happy about our averageness.
Full Review » 11 years ago
Liam Lacey Globe and Mail (Top Critic)

63

A series of moments, sentimental and comic, that never do add up to a coherent fable.
Full Review » 10 years ago
Nell Minow Common Sense Media

80

Pleasant movie despite some predictability.
Full Review » 1 year ago
Michael Dequina TheMovieReport.com

50

Ratner isn't a capable enough director to work the alchemy needed to make this cheese into gold.
Full Review » 2 years ago
Film4

Leoni is a revelation. Vibrant and gorgeous, she plays her role of the determined mother in love with teasing, salty charm, providing just enough grit to save the film from Ratner's slushy direction.
Full Review » 4 years ago
Robert Denerstein Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A hunk of sentimental fluff that boasts an often-overstated performance by Cage and an annoying turn by Leoni.
Full Review » 5 years ago
Time Out

It's rare that an American movie lets slip such a snobbish distaste for the humdrum lives of its blue-collar audience base, but of course it doesn't last.
Full Review » 6 years ago
John Venable Supercala.com

60

I voted for the happy ending, thusly, my enjoyment was diminished.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Chris Gore Film Threat

80

If you're looking for a heartfelt, feel-good holiday movie, just give in and enjoy.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Susannah Breslin Film Threat

70

One of the few films this season able to offer something likely to entertain almost everyone.
Full Review » 6 years ago
Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid

63

The makers of The Family Man were trying to do a kind of reverse It's a Wonderful Life without ever realizing that it doesn't work on paper, much less on the screen.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Jeanne Aufmuth Palo Alto Weekly

88

Redeems itself with raw emotion and the evocative force of love.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Marrit Ingman Austin Chronicle

40

A holiday film Joe Lieberman could love, unembarrassed by its wholesome, sugary pro-family message.
Full Review » 9 years ago
John R. McEwen Film Quips Online

70

Cage's delivery of the Big Final Speech is strained and uncomfortable, and the film's ending is unsatisfying, offering a conflicted message and only a meager chance of hope.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Matthew Turner ViewLondon

80

Perfect feel-good Christmas-period family entertainment. Highly recommended.
Full Review » 10 years ago
Jean Lowerison San Diego Metropolitan

Cage and Leoni are cute together and struggle mightily, but they can't overcome this sinking ship of a script by David Diamond and David Weissman that telegraphs the ending in the first 20 minutes.
Full Review » 10 years ago
Margaret A. McGurk Cincinnati Enquirer

50

There is not a lot wrong with The Family Man, except for an almost total lack of surprise and a nasty attitude toward exactly the people who are supposed to pay money to watch it.
Full Review » 10 years ago
Kevin N. Laforest Montreal Film Journal

75

Okay, so this is kinda corny but hey, it's a Christmas movie, what do you expect? Plus, it's so well done that it doesn't matter that it's formulaic and not very deep.
Full Review » 10 years ago
Betty Jo Tucker ReelTalk Movie Reviews

I was disappointed with its overly sentimental tone and rather questionable message. Are married men with children actually more deserving of happiness than single guys? According to this movie, yes.
Full Review » 10 years ago
James Sanford Kalamazoo Gazette

Even as the writers spin their entertaining suburban legend, there's a lingering feeling perhaps even they don't really stand behind the statement they're trying to make.
Full Review » 10 years ago
Luis Martinez Cinenganos

85

Demonios!, Y yo que estaba tan bien en mi soltera!
Full Review » 10 years ago
Pablo Villaca Cinema em Cena

60

O programa ideal para a epoca do Natal.
Full Review » 10 years ago