The Family Plan

While this is not a movie where you'll be amazed by the plot it sure delivers on both action and comedy fronts and sometimes that's all we need from a movie: to spend a good time laugfhingh and see good action.

A popcorn movie? Sure, but in a wold where,m save a few exceptions, most movies are very slow burns with crap characters only defined by their gender or secuality I'm just hjappy to see a movie that is just a movie.

It has heart too, Michele Monagan never disapoints and even Mark Whalberg does a hreat job as the father figure.

A fun ride throug and through, jighly recommended in these dark times as we all deserve to crack a laugh.

Reading the negative audience reviews here, it's as if many of the people decided to watch The Family Plan without any idea about what they might get with a Mark Wahlberg, family-oriented action-comedy. This ain't Oppenheimer, folks. My wife and I had zero expectations when we tuned in and this movie more than surpassed the low bar we had set. It was cute, funny, and mildly action-oriented, with better than expected acting and a few moments that were actually pretty funny and heart-warming. If you're looking for a potential Oscar nominee, you're looking in the wrong place. But, if you want to pass a few hours and walk away with a smile on your face (like the adorable baby in this movie), you really won't go wrong with The Family Plan.

(Mostly) family friendly and predictable movie, but nice to have an option to put on and watch with the family and enjoy. You don't have to be a plot savant to figure out what is going on and how it will end, but there are enough comedic moments and well cut scenes to keep you engaged if you are just watching to enjoy some family time. As I read another reviewer state, it's a great watch it and forget it type of move. Entertainment for the sake of entertainment! Having said that, there is the reminder of the importance of family and the struggles of raising teenagers. They hit a few of these points spot on. Make more of these types of movies so I can enjoy them with the family please.

Part action, part comedy, here comes a Mark Wahlberg movie that is both typical for this actor, but also something you likely saw (or close to) in the past. That said, its 2023 and almost everything has been done already, so the real question is this. Is it well done this time? Is it fun? And the answer is yes.

The movie take a bit of inspiration in True Lies but put its own spin on family road trip comedy with some "We are the Millers" vibe, while injecting some decent action sequences in there.

Having a runtime of 2 hours make sure the movie put enough emphasis on the familly relations and developing its characters, wich can be a definite plus, but at the same time i felt the movie dragged a tiny bit in the first half. Maybe 10-15 minutes could had been cut. But it didn't detract from my enjoyment.

Mark Wahlberg is definately in pretty solid shape still, wich make his character completely credible, but he ain't no martial artist so seeing him go toe to toe with Lateef Crowder (a Copeira expert) did showcase some of his shortcoming. That said, that scene was meant as a mix of comedy and action and not to be taken too seriously so for most peoples who are not martial arts afficionados, it should not be a problem. The rest of the action including gun scenes were well done.

Michelle Monaghan is also pretty solid in her role as the mom of the familly. Charming and charismatic. The kids also got to have enough screen time and developement that they felt usefull and interesting in the story. Every character pretty much as its own arc.

Overall its a movie that i taught was pretty enjoyable on a first watch. It is a mix between comedy and action but at the same time since it never fully commit to either side, you can't say its a super funny comedy or a big action movie. It is a bit of everything and it makes for a good story tough.

Ultimately not every movie is meant to be watch multiple times and considering Apple TV+ has a pretty limited selection of mainstream original movies (Ghosted being one of the few great ones), it is a welcome addition that both casual viewers and cinephile should enjoy.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

The Family Plan is a pretty fair action comedy film that has a family road trip with Mark Wahlberg having a secret life before them. As he was once a rogue agent and trained to kill. And a bunches of henchmen are after him.

The plot is okay which involves Mark Wahlberg trying to connect with his teen kids and trying to break the news to his wife the truth.

The action sequences are okay and entertaining. Mark Wahlberg did great in the role. The rest of the cast did okay as well. The villain felt underdeveloped. The humor can be cheesy with Mark Wahlberg and the baby fighting with the baby just giggling through tough situations.

Overall, it was a pretty fair film with plenty of fun action but cheesy humor.