Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Tayyab Torres Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

betty dalton The story is simple: Mathew Broderick drops out of university,plans a million dollar heist and is looking for support in his own family, which has a legendaric history in crime. The story is warm, funny, realistic and heartfelt. The acting is beyond excellent with these legendary monuments of acting in it. It is just a continous joy to watch Dustin Hoffman and Sean Connery. And let's not forget who directed this gem: none other than the legendary Sidney Lumet. "Serpico", "Dog Day Afternoon", "Network", "The Verdict", if any of these classics dont ring a bell you will be in for a real treat when you start to discover these milestones in american filmhistory.I keep watching "Family Business" over the years. Again and again I keep getting a sudden urge now and then to watch this particular movie. I am a sucker for feelgood movies, but "Family Business" comes only halfway that mark of feeling good, because although the story is adventurous, rowdy and funny, it is also a little bit dramatic and melancholic near the end. I never really like movies that make me sigh with sorrow and compassion at the end. But one of the few movies that I do tolerate the dramatic and sad parts of is "Famliy Business". It is just too darn good and the drama never becomes too heavy.It is after all a blokes movie. Losses and grief are dealt with a slap on the shoulders, a beer and a song: "oh danny boy..." But if you are a popcornkid looking for an action comedy then skip this movie and go watch Fast and Furious 6, 7, 8.This is no action flick with a happy end.I love this movie about family relationships and the struggle between father and son. And oh how do I love Sean Connery in this New York tale about the life in crime.Mathwew Broderick who is usually playing the comedy part is now acting in a more serious role. Sean Connery is the one with the humoristic one liners and his charisma gives this movie all the honors it deserves.One of those movies that stand the test of time but doesnt have a big enough story to be ranked among the very best of cinema. But it comes close, however it is almost impossible to surpass the Lumet classics of the seventies.

motorfocus82 As far as directorial work, this movie is a mixed bag; the pacing borders on terrible and there are some elements that are either wasted, or are the movie version of a non-sequitor. On the other hand, it has a few really good shots in it, too, and comes across as having some emotional honesty to every character that gives it value. It has funny moments but it's not a comedy, but more a drama. I'm writing this review mostly because the different moralities at play give people very subjective interpretations as to what this entire story is actually about. The three stars each have something to say that comes out garbled in the film's message. Connery is the grandfather, Hoffman the father, Broderick the son. The real action is within the dynamics between Broderick and Hoffman, the son and his father who cannot see the other's point of view clearly; Hoffman has renounced crime to do well-paying grunt work for the rest of his life to care for his family, pressuring Broderick into a conventionally successful career that the kid doesn't want. But the thing is, Hoffman dislikes his life, and Broderick, as Connery points out, can smell the dishonesty; the boy resents the pressure placed on him to make good on his father's self-sacrificing investment. Hoffman's character, in bourgeoisie fashion, places way too much emphasis on status at the expense of intimacy, and there is a price. This is one of those situations that bedevils families in the real world all the time, just exaggerated. If you don't have a taste for what the world considers the right way, then do you suck it up and pay it forward to the next generation? Do you deny yourself to create a more conventional environment for your kid? Even if it basically costs you a sense of identity that the kid might not respect you for losing? Or do you go your own way, accept the risks, and take your lumps? Sometimes, self-sacrifice is the best thing to do in the bigger calculation; sometimes, it's just stupid, a chip turning into a huge burden maintained by delusional self-righteousness. There's an interesting, and thoughtful, code of ethics going on here. Connery's criminal morals are interesting: the risk, for him, makes crime honest, like any other business venture. As an economist and one who understands enough about the ethics behind property rights to know how fuzzy all this is, I can understand. It's not exactly inaccurate, and I share Connery's disdain for the idea that the law defines morality. So the movie raises some interesting questions, and that I like. Call it a C+, verging on B-.

jax713 I've got to learn to stop believing the studio-generated hype on movie jackets. To look at the summary, Family Business would appear to be a comedy...."laughs and larceny!" Whoever thought this movie is funny has a weird sense of humor. For me, it did not achieve even black comedy status. A couple of gaping holes in the plot almost made me eject it from the player. Were it not for the star power and consummate acting of Hoffman and Connery, I wouldn't have made it through to the end. And it may have been the first time for both of them to play characters we never really get to know. Broderick is wasted on a character that whines throughout the story. Glad I didn't pay full-tilt admission at a theater when this was first released.

MovieAddict2016 In this disappointingly recycled, dry and surprisingly unfunny comedy, a tri-generation family of males (Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman, Matthew Broderick) with problems of their own mix paths in crime. Broderick is the grandson who wants to help his granddad pull off the heist. Hoffman works in-between as the worrier who knows exactly what's going to happen to his son. And it does.Too bad Lumet never stopped to insert any laughs in this dry comedy with a top-notch cast that just barely manages to make it worth watching on television.Just barely.Don't go out of your way for this one.2.5/5 starsJohn Ulmer