a family man movie review

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"A Family Man" is one of those films where a fast-talking forty-something upper-middle class husband and father who works too much and doesn't appreciate the simple things in life endures a catastrophic twist of fate and changes his tune. There are a few excellent films that tell that story, a number of watchable but forgettable ones, and so many bad ones that we'd better not start listing them here because we might not know where to stop. To greater or lesser degrees, even the better examples of this sort of movie can feel like veiled apologies by hard-driving Hollywood types (or the money folks who bankroll their work) for spending too much time on the set, in the studio boardroom, at the strip club, or whatever. They all ultimately rise or fall on the basis of their artistry. The less artistry there is, the more phony and self-serving the movie seems.

This one, directed by Mark Williams from a screenplay by former corporate headhunter Bill Dubuque , falls somewhere between the second and third categories. It's not great, not terrible, mostly bearable, occasionally insufferable; you might watch it all the way through if you were tucked into a blanket on a couch and weren't so thirsty, hungry or in need of a bathroom break that you felt compelled to get up. The photography is excellent; the direction is competent enough to pass muster on most cable TV dramas, and there are a number of sparkling performances in supporting roles. But the script wavers between convincing, mostly silent moments of interaction and cringe-inducing, spell-it-all-out dialogue. And the lead role of Dane Jensen has unfortunately been miscast with Gerard Butler . 

Butler has only himself to blame for that last error. Seeking to prove his versatility after years of global superstardom in action blockbusters ("300," " Olympus Has Fallen " and its sequels), Butler embraced this script, used his clout to get it made, and took an executive producer credit on the finished product. A tale like that should warm the hearts of movie buffs who love it when an actor known for one kind of role blossoms in something different. The gold standard is Burt Lancaster , a brawny sex symbol in film noir, action films, war pictures and Westerns who successfully cast himself against type in dramas that he coproduced, including the classic "Sweet Smell of Success," in which he donned horn-rimmed glasses and played many of his scenes while sitting at a table in a restaurant.

Butler is no Lancaster. As Dane, he does the 1980s-'90s Michael Douglas thing, spitting out cynical, acidic monologues on telephones and in boardrooms, his swelled torso and arms straining against tight-fitting jackets and ties, then heading home to dote on his cute children, Ryan ( Max Jenkins ) and Laura ( Julia Butters ), and flirt or fight with his wife Elise ( Gretchen Mol ), who loves him but wishes he'd spend more time with the family he supposedly adores. Then a kind but blunt oncologist named Dr. Singh ( Anupam Kher ) informs the Jensens that Ryan has leukemia and might not live, and the movie shifts into a message-y melodrama that essentially combines the Ebenezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit plots in "A Christmas Carol" and makes poor Tiny Tim the engine of change by filling the audience with fear that he'll end up as a ghost. 

You've got to be astonishingly skilled, likable and convincing to put a role like this one over the top. And you absolutely  have  to put it over, because if the actor who's at the center of nearly every scene in a moralistic tearjerker isn't dazzling in every frame, the picture will just lie there radiating anxious boredom, like a dog that wants to go outside but can't get anyone's attention. Butler tries his best, but never strong enough to make you stop imagining what someone else could have done with the part.

He's unconvincing in nearly every scene except ones where life punches him in the gut and he has to be quiet and think about what just happened to him. He's supposed to be mesmerizingly charismatic and sly in the "Master of the Universe" scenes where he's bamboozling people, schooling eager underlings, and trying to win a cutthroat contest (Dane's boss, played by Willem Dafoe , pits him against a coworker, played by Alison Brie , with the promise that he'll promote the winner of a sales contest to the position of general manager). But this material, which might've been appallingly exciting if played by Douglas or Denzel Washington or Robert Downey , Jr. or someone else with devilish charm, never sparks to life because Butler too often comes across as domineering and self-involved, like one of those motormouthed meatheads you'd try to avoid talking to at a party. He has two default expressions, a determined scowl and a furrowed-brow "Oh, my gosh, what does this mean?" Mol partly humanizes Butler in the domestic scenes—almost heroically, considering what a nothing part she's been handed; this is the kind of suffering wife role where an actress has to say "Even when you're here, you're not really here "—but there's only so much that she, Dafoe, and the rest of the cast can do. 

There are a few intelligent, sincere, even wrenching scenes in "A Family Man," in particular the moment where Elise accuses her husband of wanting to prolong the life of a child who might not make it because he feels guilty about not having been around more. (That sort of accusation hits so close to the bone that it might make some parents in the audience shudder.) There are other, less dire scenes that also ring true, like the one where Dane pronounces himself "a goddamn American hero" for working late all the time and Elise laughs in his face and makes him laugh, too. Better still is the scene where Dr. Singh entertains theological questions from his young patient, who has suddenly and understandably become obsessed with God and the afterlife: the doctor tells Ryan that over the decades he's become convinced that "all religions are some version of 'what goes around comes around.'"

That's true, for the most part. And yet, like too many exchanges in "A Family Man," it also privileges its hero's moral growth over every other story that it tells, and ultimately makes them all seems like extensions of Dane's struggle. Is God punishing Dane's arrogance by making his son sick? When he struggles to find a cure or a better treatment for his son, or simply to ease the boy's suffering, or when he goes the extra kilometer to help a 59-year old, hard-to-employ client ( Alfred Molina , excellent as usual), is he doing penance? If he is doing penance, does that mean that if either or both stories—or other stories related to Dane—end happily, that God or the Fates or the universe are rewarding Dane for becoming a better person? If Dane's son dies, or if his client doesn't get that job, or if his wife divorces him, does that mean he deserves whatever misery befell him because he spent so much time at the office?

These are not questions the film seems too interested in exploring, and maybe it's better off for not trying. That kind of introspective philosophizing tends to lead a film toward ambiguity and open-ended storytelling, toward contradiction and complexity, sometimes towards audience frustration. None of those things would seem to be in the filmmakers' wheelhouses, or even in their temperaments. Whenever the movie reaches for poetry it lands somewhere in a chain drugstore's greeting card aisle, trying to choose between one that shows an adorable child laughing in a Photoshopped field of sunlit daisies, one that tries for gallows humor but isn't really that funny, and a third with a quote about mortality and wisdom only seems thoughtful because it's written in cursive. 

Matt Zoller Seitz

Matt Zoller Seitz is the Editor at Large of RogerEbert.com, TV critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.com, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism.

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A Family Man (2017)

Rated R for language and some sexual content.

108 minutes

Gerard Butler as Dane Jensen

Gretchen Mol as Elise Jensen

Willem Dafoe as Ed Blackridge

Alison Brie as Lynn Vogel

Anupam Kher as Dr. Savraj Singh

Max Jenkins as Ryan Jensen

Dustin Milligan as Sumner

Julia Butters as Lauren Jensen

• Mark Williams
• Bill Dubuque

Cinematographer

• Shelly Johnson

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A family man, common sense media reviewers.

Mediocre melodrama is too domestic to appeal to teens.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Positive messages include the need for prioritizin

Elise is a caring, protective, loving wife and mot

Not violent per se, but disturbing: A child with c

Prolonged scene in which a married couple discusse

Frequent strong language includes "f--k," "a--hole

Apple products.

Adults drink at dinners and work parties.

Parents need to know that A Family Man is a drama centering on a working father with a high-pressure job who has trouble managing his work-life balance. Starring Gerard Butler, the movie explores mature issues such as the too-predictable sex life of a middle-aged couple, the domestic imbalance between spouses…

Positive Messages

Positive messages include the need for prioritizing family over career and recognizing the importance of being present for the people you love. Promotes work-life balance and appreciating what you have, as opposed to always chasing for more. Also advocates for couples and parents and kids to spend more time together.

Positive Role Models

Elise is a caring, protective, loving wife and mother who genuinely wants her family to stay united, despite her husband's occasional indifference and hot-tempered rants. She sees what he can't: It's his presence that counts, not his salary. Dane redeems himself and recognizes the consequences of his unethical behavior at work, as well as his indifference with his family.

Violence & Scariness

Not violent per se, but disturbing: A child with cancer at certain points is in a coma and looks like he's going to die.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Prolonged scene in which a married couple discusses their sex life, including the wife's ability at oral sex, the husband's need for more sex, and the wife's need for more intimacy and foreplay. The husband describes how often and how boring their sex is each month. A man jokes that he doesn't need a family because he can afford a $500 per hour "Brazilian" who will do whatever he wants.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Frequent strong language includes "f--k," "a--hole," "d--k," "s--t."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Drinking, drugs & smoking.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that A Family Man is a drama centering on a working father with a high-pressure job who has trouble managing his work-life balance. Starring Gerard Butler , the movie explores mature issues such as the too-predictable sex life of a middle-aged couple, the domestic imbalance between spouses (a husband all but ridicules his wife by demanding she get a job using Pinterest, with raising children as her skills), and the cutthroat nature of commission-based careers. Although there are no actual sex scenes, there's a prolonged conversation in which a couple explicitly discusses their sex life, including frequency and positions, while a single man boasts about his high-priced sex worker companion. Language is occasionally quite salty, including "f--k," "s--t" and "d--k." Some viewers may be bothered by the fact that a sick child is used primarily as a catalyst for a healthy adult's emotional development. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (2)
• Kids say (1)

Based on 2 parent reviews

Great movie

Boring with sexual scenes and banter, what's the story.

A FAMILY MAN was originally called The Headhunter's Calling -- a title that actually makes more sense in both senses of the word "calling." Gerard Butler plays Dane Jensen, an unethical supervisor in a Chicago executive recruitment firm owned by ruthless, profit-obsessed CEO Ed Blackridge ( Willem Dafoe ). Although Dane's wife, Elise ( Gretchen Mol ), and their three kids enjoy their beautiful house in the affluent suburb of Highland Park, everyone misses (and, in the case of Dane's wife, resents ) dad's late nights and attachment to his cell phone. When Ed announces his impending decision to step back and name a successor, he forces his two top managers, Dane and the seemingly single and child-free Lynn Vogel ( Alison Brie ), into a contest to decide who gets the job. It will go to whichever of the pair secures more money for the firm in October, November, and December. But just as Dane readies to dedicate himself even further to his job, his oldest son, Ryan (Max Jenkins), is diagnosed with leukemia.

Is It Any Good?

Producer-turned-director Mark Williams' predictable drama is melodramatic and unsatisfying thanks to its unlikable, unethical protagonist, who shouldn't need a dying son to become a better man. Compared to cinematic Wall Street boiler rooms and legendary real estate scams, headhunting seems a lot less compelling a field to consider cutthroat. Dafoe's hedonistic boss sets the tone for Dane's Machiavellian nature (Dane routinely sabotages clients' prospects if they're trying to get jobs outside of his firm), but the world of headhunting just doesn't have the same human interest as the salesman in Glengarry Glen Ross stealing folks' entire savings. That aside, Butler's character is just a terrible guy who only comes around when his son is literally on the brink of death. It's a clichéd character arc that reinforces the stereotype that sick and disabled people (particularly kids) exist solely to help healthy people (even parents) have breakthrough realizations about their lives. The best part of the film is Alfred Molina as Lou, a kind-hearted 59-year-old client of Dane's who wants to secure a new engineering job, not realizing that Dane's just using him to help get "placeable" younger clients more prepared for their interviews.

Brie, as a slightly more "by the books" recruiter, doesn't have enough screen time, and Mol is left with little to do but complain about her husband's critical character flaws. At the very least, she does get one "mama bear" scene in which she understandably lashes out at her hospitalized son's teacher for prematurely using his desk as tissue box storage, instead of keeping it ready for the boy's return. Butler overacts, but there are a couple of sweet moments between him and the young actor who plays his son, who loves architecture and is excited to visit the most fascinating buildings in Chicago with his dad. But a few decent scenes can't propel a movie to greatness. While watchable (the production values are polished, the actors notable), this is the sort of drama you might watch on late-night cable or stream while multitasking, not one that you run out to see in theaters.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the messages in A Family Man . What do you think the movie is trying to say about work-life balance, family relationships, and the importance of slowing down to appreciate the people you love?

Who do you consider a role model in the movie? Why? What character strengths does the person exhibit?

The disability community has criticized the movie for using the cliché of a sick person serving the purpose of making a healthy person see the error of his ways. Do you agree or disagree? How did that part of the story make you feel?

Do you think Dane redeems himself?

Movie Details

• In theaters : July 28, 2017
• On DVD or streaming : August 29, 2017
• Cast : Gerard Butler , Gretchen Mol , Alison Brie
• Director : Mark Williams
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Vertical Entertainment
• Genre : Drama
• Run time : 111 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : language and some sexual content
• Last updated : June 20, 2023

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The Family Man

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• DVD & Streaming

The Family Man

• Comedy , Drama

Content Caution

In Theaters

• Nicolas Cage, Téa Leoni, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Piven, Amber Valletta

Home Release Date

• Brett Ratner

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• Universal Pictures

Movie Review

Jack Campbell is a successful Wall Street trader accustomed to life’s “finer” things. Designer clothes. Gourmet dining. Willing women. Prestige. Power. Jack has it all … or does he?

After calmly thwarting a robbery on Christmas eve, Jack gets a surreal reward—the chance to see what life would’ve been like had he married his college sweetheart and become The Family Man . Jack wakes up Christmas morning in suburban New Jersey beside his wife, Kate, and is playfully assaulted by a rambunctious 3-year-old who calls him “Daddy.” He panics. It seems none of his city friends recognize him, yet strangers in Teaneck treat him as one of their own.

Some very funny scenes involve a jaded Jack reluctantly playing the part of a domesticated male. Walking dogs. Changing babies. Selling tires retail! But just as he begins to enjoy the routine and the people in it, he must return to the life he chose, which now feels empty by comparison. Imagine Capra with a twist: It Could’ve Been a Wonderful Life.

And this could’ve been a wonderful family film if not for profanity, sexual situations, alcohol use and fairly explicit nudity. That’s a shame because, like a holiday cordial, The Family Man has a sweet center. A balm for macho mid-life crisis, it makes strong statements in favor of personal integrity, the value of family and the foolishness of infidelity. It also romanticizes the idea of couples growing old together. If only the movie’s delightful themes weren’t unequally yoked with disappointing moments.

Bob Smithouser

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Eye For Film >> Movies >> A Family Man (2017) Film Review

A family man.

Reviewed by: Jennie Kermode

Dane (Gerard Butler) is a professional headhunter. Intensely competitive, he uses every devious trick in the book to get results, keen to impress his boss (Willem Dafoe). He works long hours, which is pushing his marriage to Elise (Gretchen Mol) close to breaking point, which he doesn't really seem to notice, but the worst of it is that he takes his attitude home with him: deciding that his ten year old son Ryan (Max Jenkins) is fat, he basically accuses him of slacking and drags him out on an early morning run. Aside from this being a generally horrible thing to do, the boy doesn't look fat - he looks as if something is wrong, and the run exhausts him.

Not long afterwards, Ryan is diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Dane's response is to haggle with the doctor (Anupam Kher) as if trying to negotiate a better deal. Whilst Elise reorganises her life so she can stay with Ryan in the hospital, he continues to work a if nothing much has happened; but gradually, as the reality of the risk his son faces dawns on him, he begins to change.

That risk, it must be said, is mitigated somewhat by the family's comfortable circumstances. Ryan gets a spacious isolation room and access to the very latest treatment techniques. Help is found for looking after his younger sister, and Elise wan't working in the first place. A simplified presentation of the illness creates high short term drama but elides the situation the family could face in years to come, with survivors having to be tested at intervals for the rest of their lives in case the disease returns. What we see, however, is reasonably accurate, and young Jenkins handles his role well, avoiding any maudlin nonsense. This is important because there's an unpleasant subtext to the film which hints at the belief that Ryan's illness is some divine punishment for his father's misdeeds. The boy's suffering certainly serves the classic disabled-person-as-inspiration function for his father, whilst the boy himself gains nothing except, perhaps, a soupçon more attention.

A subplot involving an ageing engineer (Alfred Molina) using Dane's company in a desperate bid to find a new job gives our erstwhile hero something else to get his teeth into, and it's clear from the outset that this will provide the crux of any moral resolution. Overall, though, Dane doesn't grow up very much, and his wife's excitement at this small change, in view of the fact that he's waited until his late forties to get round to it, leaves one feeling that cancer is far from the only malaise at work here. Butler gives the charismatic monster side of his character his all and it's an entertaining turn, but he's less successful at convincing us there's a nice man underneath it all. Mol is in an impossible position, with each "I love you" coming across as more self-deluding than the last.

The technical work on this film is as polished as one would expect given the six years that were spent on it, and Williams knows how to wring the emotions just as well as Dane does. Dafoe brings just the right combination of nastiness and charm to his role, which will delight his fans, and is some compensation for Molina's talents being rather underused. There are many intriguing possibilities in the concept of combining a sick child story with the glamour of a Wall Street -style business drama but, despite all this, A Family Man lacks the self awareness to achieve its potential.

Director: Mark Williams

Writer: Bill Dubuque

Starring: Gerard Butler, Gretchen Mol, Alison Brie, Max Jenkins, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina

Runtime: 110 minutes

Country: US

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What to Know

A Family Man has some worthy ideas, but they're bungled in a middle-of-the-road melodrama populated by thinly sketched -- and occasionally downright unlikeable -- characters.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Mark Williams

Gerard Butler

Dane Jensen

Gretchen Mol

Elise Jensen

Alison Brie

Anupam Kher

Dr. Savraj Singh

Alfred Molina

Unemployed Engineer

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• What is the release date of 'A Family Man'? Release date of Gerard Butler and Anupam Kher starrer 'A Family Man' is 2017-07-28.
• Who are the actors in 'A Family Man'? 'A Family Man' star cast includes Gerard Butler, Anupam Kher, Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina.
• Who is the director of 'A Family Man'? 'A Family Man' is directed by Mark Williams.
• What is Genre of 'A Family Man'? 'A Family Man' belongs to 'Drama' genre.
• In Which Languages is 'A Family Man' releasing? 'A Family Man' is releasing in English.

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A family affair review: joe wilkinson is wasted in this lukewarm british comedy.

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• The film creatively uses space and is well-shot, but lacks a cohesive and engaging narrative.
• Blatant sexism and lack of character development make it difficult to invest in the story.
• Pacing issues and too many plotlines prevent the audience from fully enjoying A Family Affair's potential humor.

A Family Affair starts strong, indicating that it's going to be a slapstick comedy subverting the perception of quaint British life. However, what little raunch and quirks there are get lost along the way. In the film, a couple, Edward and Helen, played by Joe Wilkinson and Laura Aikman, face impending doom as their parents descend to spend the weekend amid their hotel going up for auction, since Edward can't pay the bills. Like most comedies, the conflict and story only matter in their ability to create opportunities for laughs. However, there wasn't enough comedy to justify the thin narrative.

A Family Affair is a 2024 comedy film directed and written by Warren Fischer. The film revolves around a hotel manager named Edward, who is being threatened by a bank to auction off the property. Edward then has to juggle this with his in-laws visiting for their wedding anniversary.

• A Family Affair makes creative use of space & is well-shot
• Edward is never a character we can fully invest in
• There's a lot of blatant sexism
• The film's story is all over the place

Written and directed by Warren Fischer, the movie is clearly that of a first-time filmmaker, and some of the pitfalls can be chalked up to experience. The shots are precise, and the setting is a beautiful background that successfully juxtaposes the comedic tone of the narrative. Shot all in one location and taking place in one day, A Family Affair makes do with a minimal budget and uses the space creatively. With a runtime of only one hour and 12 minutes , the movie packs in a lot of action without saying much about its characters.

The Idyllic English Countryside Is Made Stressful In A Family Affair

But it's not exciting enough to capture our attention.

The characters with the most to do, and who have the biggest comedic beats are Helen and Edward's fathers, Walter and Albert, who are coming to terms with their age. Behaving more like teenagers than grown men, they shamelessly chase around a much younger woman and make light of their decades-long marriages. Though this is meant to be seen through the light of how difficult it is to age, and the desperate attempt to remain relevant, their comments aren't funny, they're just sexist and sad. Overall, the female characters in the film are treated with disdain across the board.

Though Helen takes Edward down a few pegs by the end, almost every woman in the story is reduced to a "nagging wife" or "gold digger." Even if these characterizations were supposed to be caricatures played for self-aware laughs, this is lost on the audience, as it's decidedly not funny. The supposed comedic peak of the film, which involves mass drugging and other forms of criminal activity, has moments that could almost make us laugh had there been any build-up to create a satisfying payoff. Character motivations and desires turn on a dime, making them impossible to account for.

This lack of emotion comes across as a lack of effort rather than deadpan humor.

A large part of the issue is that so few actors get to be funny in their roles . Casting Wilkinson as the straight-man is a gross misuse of his talents. It forces him to be the film’s emotional heart, a role he isn't prepared for. The audience is supposed to feel his pain as he tries to please everyone and hang onto his dream of running a guest house as it crumbles around him. However, even with the impending doom of the bank selling his property and the disapproval of his in-laws, Edward can barely muster a disgruntled expression.

This lack of emotion comes across as a lack of effort rather than deadpan humor. It's difficult to like Edward, as his constant lying to his wife and family makes it difficult to view him as the story's hero. A nugget of the story that could have been emotionally compelling, the dynamic between Edward and his father, is barely acknowledged until the last twenty minutes. They have a shared loss they're both grappling with, but this takes a backseat to irrelevant tangents that again fail to punch up the continual moments of awkwardness and dead air.

A Family Affair

For a movie with so many plotlines, not much happens, if a family affair had pared down the story, one of them might have gotten enough time.

Due to the editing, pacing, and inconsistencies in the script, the threads of A Family Affair that begin to fit together about halfway through the movie's quick runtime never achieve cohesion. Individually, each aspect of the story is straightforward, but they're never given individual moments to shine. The edges of every plot point begin to blur before we have time to take them in and understand what's happening. This is likely an attempt to create an overwhelming atmosphere to match Edward's lack of control, but it doesn't feel purposeful.

Family dramedies are a well-known and frequently tread genre, and there is much humor and insightful realizations about life to be found in dysfunction. However, for dysfunction and tension to mean anything, the audience must invest in the characters and A Family Affair never gives us a reason to care. The sparsely populated funny moments don't make up for the lack of craftsmanship in the story's journey. Much like Edward's dreams for the hotel, the movie doesn't turn out exactly how the audience imagines.

A Family Affair is now available on digital.

Zac Efron Hooks Up With Nicole Kidman in Netflix’s Steamy ‘A Family Affair’ Trailer

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Netflix has released the trailer for its new romantic comedy “A Family Affair,” starring Nicole Kidman , Zac Efron , Joey King, Liza Koshy and Kathy Bates, from the producers of “Anyone but You.”

The film follows Zara Ford (King), a young woman who discovers that her single mother Brooke (Kidman) is having an affair with her self-absorbed, movie star boss Chris Cole (Efron). “A Family Affair” marks the third instance of Efron and Kidman sharing the big screen, the first being “The Paperboy” in 2012 followed by “The Butler” releasing next year.

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Although originally slated for release in November of 2023, “A Family Affair” was pushed to 2024 due to WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.

Richard LaGravenese helms the film with a script by Carrie Solomon. Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum serve as producers. Michelle Morrissey, Alyssa Altman and Solomon executive produce.

“A Family Affair” streams worldwide June 28. Watch the trailer below.

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Jim Henson: Idea Man’ on Disney+, Ron Howard’s Insightful Profile of a Showbiz Genius

Where to stream:.

• Jim Henson Idea Man

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Disney’s jim henson documentary features his hilarious original ‘muppet show’ pitch: “buy this show”, new shows & movies to watch this weekend: ‘eric’ on netflix + more, forget wife guys: it’s time to celebrate muppet guys.

Go ahead, try and pick a favorite Muppet. Dare you. Fozzie, Gonzo, Miss Piggy, Animal, Kermit, Grover, Bert and/or Ernie – it’s impossible. Too many great ones. I mean, I even forgot to mention Big Bird until now, and the dude’s a LEGEND. And that’s why Jim Henson: Idea Man ( now streaming on Disney+ ) is sure to get a lot of viewers, because it offers an inside look at the restlessly creative visionary who once cut up an old coat and glued halved ping-pong balls to it, and created a thing that brought so many of us so much joy (and surely made us cry a few times when it sang about how hard being green could be). Director Ron Howard tackled the job, hoping to provide some insight into Henson’s work via a biography of the puppeteer/filmmaker – and for the most part, succeeds.

JIM HENSON: IDEA MAN : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Idea Man states its thesis in its opening moments: Jim Henson lived a busy, busy life. His friends, family and creative collaborators call him restless and driven, and the documentary therefore kind of has no choice but to zoom through his life a little too quickly, because he accomplished so much in his too-brief 53 years on this planet. Henson grew up in rural Mississippi, the son of a Christian-scientist mother who wouldn’t take him to a doctor for his severe acne, so he grew a beard to cover it up, and kept it for his entire life. He was an introvert, fascinated by how TV could open a window to the rest of the world. His appreciation for the medium inspired his interest in puppetry, which he hoped would be his means to get into the television business – a notion that seems ridiculous now, perhaps because it’s likely that no one will ever be as groundbreaking a puppeteer as Henson was. 

In the mid-’50s was when Henson made Kermit from his mother’s coat; he wasn’t initially a frog, but an odd creature that could be male or female depending on the wig. Kermit was the result of serious creative rigor stemming from a working relationship with Jane Nebel, who Henson met in a college puppetry course, and would eventually marry. They got their start on local Washington, D.C. stations, creating puppet skits for various shows, and eventually formed the production company Muppets Inc. They grew the business, eventually partnering with Frank Oz, Jerry Juhl and Don Sahlin. They cut a basketball in half and created Rowlf, a piano-playing dog who became a staple on The Jimmy Dean Show , and later, such a solid Muppet Show staple, I should’ve mentioned him well before now. Like I said, there are so many beloved ones.

Let’s back up a bit though, before we get to Henson’s big, bold steps toward legendary status. While Muppets, Inc. creations hawked various products on TV commercials (cue an old clip of one Muppet shooting another Muppet with a gun for not using said product), Henson used his spare time to create Time Piece , an experimental short film about a man trying to avoid the passage of time, and while it earned him an Oscar nomination, it also became the progenitor for the type of slyly experimental educational shorts he’d make for Sesame Street . This is when and where Kermit and Grover and Guy Smiley and Oscar the Grouch truly came to be, and if it seems like Henson’s unbridled creativity was truly being rewarded, well, that’s nothing compared to what came next.

That, of course, was The Muppet Show , which Henson relentlessly pitched for years, and was rejected by networks and studios left and right. Finally, British producer Lew Grade offered Henson studio space to develop the series, so the company relocated to London and got to work. Prior to that, Henson’s schedule was already all-consuming – he was writing and producing and directing and puppeteering day and night – so the move put even more strain on his marriage; Jane wasn’t happy when her creative collaborations with the Muppets were pushed aside so she could take care of their five children. But while their relationship was disintegrating, The Muppet Show became a worldwide smash in the mid-to-late ’70s, clocking millions and millions of viewers. Was it enough for Jim Henson, though? Of course not. He had feature-length movies to make, including the technically innovative cult classic The Dark Crystal , and the box-office flop that became another cult favorite, Labyrinth . Always moving forward, Henson was. 

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Idea Man exists in the same Muppet-bio headspace as 2021 doc Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street – and by extension, I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story .

Performance Worth Watching: Sure, Henson was 1/1, and truly peerless – but nobody upstages Miss Piggy, ever.

Memorable Dialogue: Oz on the Muppet Show M.O.: “The concept was, these bizarre people trying to put a show on every week.”

Sex and Skin: None.

‘Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas’ is the True King of Holiday Specials

Our Take: After taking a moment to get over the deep disappointment that Idea Man doesn’t even MENTION the eternal genius of Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas , I’ve concluded that Howard’s film is incomplete on a number of levels, and unlike many other biodocs, could’ve actually justified a limited series run – it doesn’t touch on Henson’s legacy and influence after his death in 1990, breezes past considerable chunks of his output (e.g., the other Muppet films and Fraggle Rock ) and The Dark Crystal could/should be the subject of its own dedicated documentary feature. The mighty legacy of the Riverbottom Nightmare Band remains grossly underappreciated.

But as a reasonably insightful glimpse into Henson’s life, Idea Man is up to the task. An apologist would forgive Howard’s hasty pacing as a reflection of Henson’s breathlessly intense career; others will find his visual approach delightful, with creative flourishes that belie typical documentary talking head/archival footage presentations, and reflect the aesthetics of his subject. As Henson’s closest living collaborator, Oz’s commentary is especially crucial and rich; he shares how they developed Bert and Ernie’s odd-couple dynamic via improvisation, while cameras rolled. And Henson’s five children – who carry on his legacy and run Muppets Inc. to this day – share snippets about their father’s personality and creative output that Howard assembles into a collage that’s a bit rough around the edges. 

Wisely, Howard hones in on the idea that Henson always keenly felt time ticking away in the background, and uses it as an explanation for his relentless work ethic – and lurking in the subtext is the spooky sensation that Henson feared he might die relatively young. By that token, Idea Man likely doesn’t intend to be comprehensive; as an elaborate encyclopedia entry with a few shades of creative focus, it’s a highly functional biography laced with Howard’s signature sentimentality so it stirs tangible emotions and nostalgia for Henson’s singular creations. You’ll end up knowing more about Henson than you already did, but it’ll also leave you wanting more.

Our Call: Elmo is wholly absent here, so anyone post-Gen X might be disappointed. But anyone raised on the classic Muppet ensemble will be highly compelled to watch Jim Henson: Idea Man , and be reasonably satisfied. STREAM IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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Metacritic reviews

A family man.

• 50 RogerEbert.com Matt Zoller Seitz RogerEbert.com Matt Zoller Seitz Whenever the movie reaches for poetry it lands somewhere in a chain drugstore's greeting card aisle, trying to choose between one that shows an adorable child laughing in a Photoshopped field of sunlit daisies, one that tries for gallows humor but isn't really that funny, and a third with a quote about mortality and wisdom only seems thoughtful because it's written in cursive.
• 50 Observer Rex Reed Observer Rex Reed It is still Gerard Butler who keeps it all afloat, negotiating rough waters with superior skill.
• 38 Movie Nation Roger Moore Movie Nation Roger Moore Screenwriter Bill Dubuque — forget that name — illustrates Dane’s sense of responsibility and victimhood by scribbling the clunkiest, clumsiest, most tin-eared “sex” scene in the history of the big screen. If that online screenwriting course offers a refund, pal, GRAB it.
• 30 Variety Dennis Harvey Variety Dennis Harvey Sparing no maudlin contrivance in a quest to jerk tears that remain stubbornly dry, this hokum is slickly executed by producer Mark Williams in his feature directorial debut. But the result never rises above polished plastic, formulaic, and pedestrian.
• 20 The Guardian Nigel M Smith The Guardian Nigel M Smith It’s run-of-the-mill, and crassly manipulative.
• 10 The Hollywood Reporter John DeFore The Hollywood Reporter John DeFore A loathsome redemption tale that rings false on every front except when depicting capitalistic assholery (and sometimes fails to convince us even then), Williams' directing debut The Headhunter's Calling (from a script by former corporate headhunter Bill Dubuque) not only expects us to root for its unlovable protagonist, but expects us to do so when that man is played by Gerard Butler.
• 10 Los Angeles Times Gary Goldstein Los Angeles Times Gary Goldstein Alternately crass and treacly, overbearing and under-finessed, the film, penned by headhunter-turned-screenwriter Bill Dubuque and directed by Mark Williams, is on life support from get-go.
• See all 7 reviews on Metacritic.com
• See all external reviews for A Family Man

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Netflix has dropped a trailer for Richard LaGravenese rom-com A Family Affair , which stars Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, Joey King, Kathy Bates, Liza Koshy, and Sherry Cola. The film is produced by Alyssa Altman, Jeff Kirschenbaum, and Joe Roth. Michelle Morrissey serves as executive producer.

Written by Carrie Solomon, the story follows a surprising romance that kicks off comic consequences for a young woman, her mother, and her movie star boss as they face the complications of love, sex, and identity.

The older woman, younger man trope in film is getting revitalized after the popularity of Amazon’s The Idea of You starring Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine, which follows a similar premise to A Family Affair . There is just an audience thirst for romantic comedies in general as Sydney Sweeney film Anyone But You raked in the big bucks making a net profit of $103M on a $25M budget.

A Family Affair debuts June 28 on Netflix. Check out the trailer above.

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Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron Get Into a Messy Relationship in First ‘A Family Affair’ Trailer

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The Big Picture

• Nicole Kidman, Zac Efron, and Joey King star in the first trailer for Netflix's A Family Affair.
• King's character faces a dilemma as her mom falls for her arrogant boss, played by Efron.
• Director Richard LaGravenese brings big names like Shirley MacLaine, Kathy Bates, and Liza Koshy for a star-studded cast in the upcoming Netflix release.

After years and years of watching older male characters carry on romantic relationships with women half their age, 2024 is finally the year when the tables turn. Following the successful release of Prime Video’s The Idea of You , Netflix has a similar story on the way through the Nicole Kidman , Zac Efron , and Joey King -led A Family Affair . The movie could easily be seen as a coming-of-age tale for a multitude of different generations, as the three main cast members all feel the growing pains of life when an unexpected romance blossoms. Today, we’re getting the first trailer for the highly-anticipated star-studded film, which also features the iconic Kathy Bates in a supporting role.

King's Zara is stuck in a nightmare situation in the official trailer for A Family Affair after her arrogant movie star boss Chris (Efron) decides to pursue a romantic relationship with her mom (Kidman). Although she knows him as an immature, stuck-up diva, Zara can't sway her mother's decision to dive fully into the relationship. Finding sparks in an unexpected place, Kidman's character quickly falls head over heels for the celebrity and sees a different man than the one her daughter's been describing. Worried that Chris will hurt her parent and best friend, Zara begins to see her mom in an entirely different light and tries to come to a place of acceptance for her mother's happiness - even if it's with the man she hates most in this world.

Who’s Behind ‘A Family Affair’?

The movie is the latest to come from filmmaker Richard LaGravenese , who previously helmed projects including the cinematic adaptation of the hit musical The Last Five Years , P.S. I Love You , and Freedom Writers . While LaGravenese holds a slew of critically acclaimed credits for writing, he passed the pen over to Carrie Solomon who makes her feature-length writing debut with A Family Affair, having previously worked in the writers’ room for Paramount+’s The Good Fight . Whereas the Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine -led The Idea of You started as a piece of fan-fiction work ( rumored to be about Harry Styles ) by Robinne Lee , A Family Affair is approaching the age-gap love story from a different angle. Still, both men hold positions of power, as Galitzine played an uber-famous pop star and Efron as a well-known actor.

As we mentioned at the top, the casting team behind A Family Affair wasted zero opportunities in bringing the biggest names in the biz along for the ride. Filling out the rest of the ensemble cast are the legendary Shirley MacLaine ( Steel Magnolias ) and Liza Koshy ( Players ).

Check out the debut trailer for A Family Affair above and catch it on Netflix when it arrives on June 28.

A Family Affair (2024)

When an elderly matriarch summons her extended family for a grand reunion, the gathering unearths unresolved conflicts and buried secrets among the clan. As relatives from various generations clash and reconcile, the family navigates through emotional discoveries and the power of familial ties.

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