The Family Man
Directed by	Brett Ratner
Produced by	Armyan Bernstein, Thomas A. Bliss, Andrew Z. Davis, James M. Freitag
Written by	David Diamond, David Weissman
Starring	Nicolas Cage, Téa Leoni, Don Cheadle
Music by	Danny Elfman
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	12 December 2000 (premiere)
Running time	126 min
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Family Man is a 2000 Brett Ratner film starring Nicolas Cage (as Jack Campbell) and Téa Leoni, about a man who is given a glimpse at what could have been, if he had made a different decision 13 years ago. It is similar to It's a Wonderful Life, in that it starts on Christmas Eve with a life and death situation involving an angel who tries to get the main character (Campbell) to take a long, earnest look at his life. In the end, the protagonists in both movies conclude that a quiet family life is preferrable to achieving huge success and wealth at work, although each movie's protagonist approaches the issue from opposite places initially. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (541x755, 88 KB)The Family Man film poster This image is of a movie poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the movie or the studio which produced the movie in question. ... Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and music-video director. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Nicolas Cage (born January 7, 1964) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Téa Leoni Téa Leoni (born Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni on February 25, 1966) is an American actress. ... Don Cheadle (born November 29, 1964) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor. ... Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953 in Los Angeles, California) is an American singer-songwriter who led the rock band Oingo Boingo from 1978 until its breakup in 1995, and has since 1985s Pee-Wees Big Adventure worked as a film score composer. ... Universal Pictures is the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal. ... is the 346th day of the year (347th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A minute is a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour and to 60 seconds. ... This is a list of film-related events in 2000. ... Brett Ratner (born March 28, 1969) is an American film director and music-video director. ... Nicolas Cage (born January 7, 1964) is an Academy Award-winning American actor. ... Téa Leoni Téa Leoni (born Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni on February 25, 1966) is an American actress. ... Its a Wonderful Life is a 1946 film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story, The Greatest Gift written by Philip Van Doren Stern. ... Christmas is an annual holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. ... A Gothic angel in ivory, c1250, Louvre An angel is a supernatural being found in many religions. ...

The film has also been compared to Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol because the protagonist is a greedy man who cares little about anyone except himself, who then has his life outlook completely changed after a series of real-life what-if experiences. Charles John Huffam Dickens FRSA (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870), pen-name Boz, was the foremost English novelist of the Victorian era, as well as a vigorous social campaigner. ... A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (commonly known as A Christmas Carol ) is what Charles Dickens described as his little Christmas Book and was first published on December 19, 1843 with illustrations by John Leech. ...

Synopsis

Jack Campbell is a single, wealthy Wall Street merger and acquisition investment banker living the high life in New York City. All that magically changes one morning when he wakes up in a suburban New Jersey bedroom with a wife he never married and two kids he never had — the life he would have led if he had forgone investment banking as a younger man. While he wants to return to his high life, Jack is stuck in a "permanent acid trip" because an angel wants to teach the overly confident man a lesson. The angel displaces him into an entirely new world beyond his imaginings: suburban New Jersey. As he lives his life as the "family man," he becomes attached to the family he never had. Later his realization to the meaning of a family life leads him back to the wealthy, yet lonely life. Soon after he returns to reality, he forgoes his 130 billion dollar acquisition deal just to meet his dream wife for the last time. Elaborate marble facade of NYSE as seen from the intersection of Broad and Wall Streets For other uses, see Wall Street (disambiguation). ... The phrase mergers and acquisitions (M&A) refers to the aspect of business strategy and management dealing with the merging and/or acquiring of different companies. ... An investment banker works for an investment bank. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... Official language(s) English de facto Capital Trenton Largest city Newark Area  Ranked 47th  - Total 8,729 sq mi (22,608 km²)  - Width 70 miles (110 km)  - Length 150 miles (240 km)  - % water 14. ...

Shared themes

Similar films include:

• Mr. Destiny, in which an angel-like being shows a man how his world would have been if an event in his past happened differently.

• It's a Wonderful Life, in which a man is able to see how things could have been if he'd never lived.

Mr. ... Its a Wonderful Life is a 1946 film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story, The Greatest Gift written by Philip Van Doren Stern. ...

External links

• The Family Man at the Internet Movie Database
• The Family Man at Rotten Tomatoes