A grandfather, son and grandson all conspire together to rob a research lab to get rich quick. Along the way, the grandfather and son argue constantly and the film follows them from planning to executing to the aftermath of the burglary.
Casting Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman and Matthew Broderick in the leads was a huge casting coup. After all, the three of them were pretty hot back in 1989 and it must have cost the studio a fortune to get them. But, just because you CAN get these three doesn't mean you SHOULD....as the chemistry was lacking and I could never accept that the three were related. Surely, three more disparate characters would have been difficult to find!
In addition to the problem with casting, the other big problem I had with "Family Business" is that it was very dry and a big influx of humor would have helped it tremendously. I remember back when the film was marketed back in 1989. It was marketed as a comedy and it's about as funny as cancer.
Overall, it's a film with a big-name cast but not a whole lot more. Fans of the three might like it...but others will probably, like me, wonder why the film wasn't better than it was. It also is a film that simply didn't know when to end...and by the closing credits it was a maudlin mess. A total downer and a film that didn't even come close to being a satisfying viewing experience.
Casting Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman and Matthew Broderick in the leads was a huge casting coup. After all, the three of them were pretty hot back in 1989 and it must have cost the studio a fortune to get them. But, just because you CAN get these three doesn't mean you SHOULD....as the chemistry was lacking and I could never accept that the three were related. Surely, three more disparate characters would have been difficult to find!
In addition to the problem with casting, the other big problem I had with "Family Business" is that it was very dry and a big influx of humor would have helped it tremendously. I remember back when the film was marketed back in 1989. It was marketed as a comedy and it's about as funny as cancer.
Overall, it's a film with a big-name cast but not a whole lot more. Fans of the three might like it...but others will probably, like me, wonder why the film wasn't better than it was. It also is a film that simply didn't know when to end...and by the closing credits it was a maudlin mess. A total downer and a film that didn't even come close to being a satisfying viewing experience.