Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Dan Morgan is a boring car salesman with three kids, never venturing beyond town, anti-technology, and stuck in the same weekly routine. However, Dan used to be a lethal assassin, which is why he lives a low-key no frills life. When his past catches up with him and an army of goons seek to kill him, he must take his family on the run and eventually tell them the truth.
Directed by Simon Cellan Jones and written by David Coggeshall, “The Family Plan” stars Mark Wahlberg as the protagonist Dan Morgan, a former assassin turned salesman, while Michelle Monaghan plays his unsuspecting physiotherapist wife, Jessica Morgan. Van Crosby and Zoe Colletti portray their teenage kids – gaming-obsessed Kyle and the older Nina who plans to ditch her own career dreams to follow her boyfriend to college. Iliana Norris gets to be the cutest Morgan in the family, toddler Max, who is always smiling, happy, and a total charm machine for anybody with a soft spot for adorable, smiley kids.
One of the first action sequences in “The Family Plan” involves Dan getting ambushed while shopping for diapers with Baby Max, so he is forced to fight the bad guy while the baby is still strapped to him. The exaggerated but entertaining fight helps establish the ruthlessness of Dan’s enemies – they don’t care about a dead toddler being collateral damage. The baby is the best comedic-trope in this film, which doesn’t have a lot of novelty to offer. However, Michelle Monaghan brings a cheery energy to the movie as the super-fit working mom Jessica, who feels she is stuck in a rut and is thus game for all the sudden spontaneity her husband shows – like taking the entire family on an impromptu road trip to Vegas and throwing away all their phones (because he doesn’t want them tracked by the dozens of dangerous armed goons chasing them).
The sub-plot about Dan’s teen son Kyle being a pro-gamer was relatable, two of my younger brothers also play the same game Kyle is obsessed with – Valorant. It’s a first-person tactical shooter game, which is pretty popular with most people who love e-sports. Kyle’s gaming is a sore-point between him and dad Dan, but the script cleverly uses his gaming skills towards the second-half of the story and also incorporates some good father-son bonding moments. Zoe CoVan Crosby reminded me of Nolan Gould (Luke Dunphy in ‘Modern Family’), with his boyish charm and open smile, quite unlike the ‘awkward gamer boy’ personality of his character Kyle, but he pulls it off. Zoe Colletti ranges from the raging rebellious teen to vulnerable lost youngster in her part.
So, well, the cast makes a cute American family, and “The Family Plan” is pretty entertaining for most parts. However, the whole “Dan is scared to tell his family the truth” gets too dragged out. I was hoping the cat would be out of the bag by the middle of the runtime at least, leading to some comedic drama and exaggerated action scenes, but it’s postponed until the very end, testing viewer patience. The action sequences in the climax were also quite underwhelming.
Regardless, the engaging screenplay, and a peppy soundtrack makes the movie worth a one time watch for the weekend.
Rating: 6/10. Stream “The Family Plan” on Apple TV.
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