James Proclaims!

Whatever the merit’s of 2000’s The Family Man, and there are some, I am always troubled by a film which engages in the concept of alternative timelines, without fully investing in some internal rules. Such as what happens to the characters whose entire existence is dependent on the secondary timeline when the character returns to their original reality? In this case, what happens to the children? Because it is quite brutal to imagine that the adorable little girl that helps the titular character see the error of his ways will never get to be born and that the central character wouldn’t somehow be troubled by this.

But The Family Man was never meant to be assessed on a cerebral level. It’s an overly sentimental piece of escapism, that doesn’t need to be overthought. It may not stand up to the slightest bit of scrutiny but the cast are decent and the film passes the time well-enough.

Score for Christmasishness

Some people might consider this to be an actual Christmas film and I’d find it hard to argue. It owes something to It’s a Wonderful Life and potentially even to A Christmas Carol. And the film is largely set at Christmas time in two different realities. But the plot could potentially work outside of the Christmas setting. It works better with the Christmas setting though.