Family Man, The

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Cage and Leoni make it offbeat.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Cage is a wonderful light comedian; were someone to remake "It's a Wonderful Life," he'd be on the short list for the role of George Bailey. And Leoni is Donna Reed, reborn.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

Cage gives a performance that invites audiences to lay cynicism aside in a romantic fable.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

A surprisingly charming fable.

Mr. Showbiz Cody Clark

A warm, glossy holiday fable that hits some surprisingly sweet notes.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Sweet, light entertainment, but could have been more.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

A holiday fable that's not destined for immortality but goes down more easily than most of the pap Hollywood tries to feed us every Christmas.

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

Despite solid acting, it's a fantasy for those who don't know jack about what really makes for a wonderful life.

Newsweek David Ansen

What charm, quirkiness and warmth the movie possesses is due largely to them (Cage and Leoni).

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Schlock weeper.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

I didn't believe it, and I don't think the people who made The Family Man did either.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Beyond the cliched diaper-changing scenes and the oh-so-predictable romantic complications, the film inadvertently insults its presumed target audience.

Portland Oregonian Kim Morgan

You can't just rework a beloved Christmas classic, set it in reverse and expect it to run smoothly.

Time Richard Corliss

A film that's fun to argue with.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Has the airiness of a well-made souffle, springing delicate small surprises at calibrated intervals.

Miami Herald Sara Wildberger

Sidesteps from the premise of "It's a Wonderful Life" far enough to avoid copyright charges, but not far enough to avoid unfavorable comparisons

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

A holiday film Joe Lieberman could love, unembarrassed by its wholesome, sugary pro-family message.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

It's an easier movie to tolerate than it should be if, like me, you're in love with Téa Leoni, who, as a lithe, lusty, strangely patient firecracker Superwife in a shag, rescues the movie from the tar pit of irrelevance. With some decent lines, she could be the new Myrna Loy.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

But in the end conventional sentiment, rather than any actual morality, is all that the script for The Family Man (by David Diamond and David Weissman) has to offer.

Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky

It's a plot more worn out than the tinsel boxed up in the attic. In the end, they've given us a Christmas gift barely worth returning.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Starting to feel sick? Just you wait.

Variety Joe Leydon

A slickly produced slice of sentimental hokum that borrows freely from a half-dozen or so other, better feel-good fantasies.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Not even a sincere and heroic effort by Nicolas Cage can redeem the film's essential phoniness.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Sitting through it is like waking up on Christmas morning to find a stockingful of styrofoam.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

A piece of moldy wax fruit if ever there was one.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Nothing more, or less, than a cheap, dirty grab at our Christmas spirit.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

At first I thought I was watching yet another version of "A Christmas Carol"; then I wondered if it was a remake of "It's a Wonderful Life"; finally I gave up trying to find anything at all in it that was unfamiliar.

Film.com David D'Arcy

What were they thinking?