Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
High-powered Wall Street bachelor Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage) gets the shock of a lifetime when he wakes up one morning in suburban New Jersey next to Kate (Téa Leoni) the girlfriend he left 13 years ago. Suddenly Jack's entire world is turned upside down. Can this once single-minded exec actually become The Family Man?System Requirements:Starring: Nicolas Cage Téa Leoni. Directed By: Brett Ratner. Running Time: 126 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Widescreen" format. Copyright 2000 Universal Distribution Corp.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: PG-13 UPC: 025192094125 Manufacturer No: 61020941

Amazon.com:
Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage) is the quintessential Wall Street shark, scoring killer deals by day and shallow escort sex by night. His round-the-clock routine of empty luxuries is disturbed one lonely Christmas Eve when a gun-packing punk (Don Cheadle)--perhaps an angel of mercy--responds to an altruistic gesture from Jack by giving him "a glimpse" of the life he could have had. Could have, that is, if he had married the girlfriend (Téa Leoni) he'd abandoned 13 years earlier, raised two adorable children, worked in his father-in-law's retail tire outlet, and lived happily ever after in suburban New Jersey. Thrust into this "glimpse" of the path not taken, Jack's a single-malt man in a lite-brew world, wondering if he'll ever return to his "better" life of callous wealth and solitude--or if he even wants to.

Carp all you want about this derivative premise, with its marginal stereotypes and biased embrace of domestic bliss and dirty diapers. The simple fact is, The Family Man works like a charm. Under the assured direction of Brett Ratner (Rush Hour), this holiday crowd-pleaser offers comedy and chemistry in equal measure, making the hilarity of Jack's predicament a smooth catalyst for that rarest of movie romances: the marital love story. Leoni is Cage's perfect match as Jack's idealized but imperfect wife, and the movie's appeal largely derives from its awareness that any life has its pleasures and pains. While it only flirts with the dark desperation that makes It's a Wonderful Life a classic predecessor, The Family Man is an irresistible what-if fantasy, and even its debatable ending rides on a wave of genuine warmth and sentiment. --Jeff Shannon

Rating : - One of those, "I'm SOOOO glad I saw this!" movies...
Just one of those times when I was sitting at the TV channel surfing, and low and behold, "Family Man" came on, the credits and all. It said Nick Cage, and for a second I wasn't sure if I had missed it, or if it was just starting.
I fell in love with Nick in "City Of Angels". Ever since, been one of those "#1 fans", even though I'm in my ... eh hem ... 40's. EARLY 40's.

OK, moving right along, this movie leaves you with that 'stop the world' attitude for a moment, get off, and just have a quick look around before God/ess notices, and how precious life is.

Sure, we ALL have our woes, and whatnot, but we concentrate SOOO MUCH on that ... everyday of our lives!
This movie is that 'helping hand' that reaches out and lifts you out of your strapped and snapped, belted, and welded seat you've placed yourself into, and FREES you, if only for an hour and a half or two, to actually sit back and go, "WOW!!!"

Just get up off your duff and see it, OK? That's all I'm going to say. You can read all the other reviews here to catch a glimpse of the "newspaper" critiques, I'm just here to help you see the bigger picture that I was fortunate enough to witness when I watched it.

Have had it on VHS for the longest time, need to get off my OWN duff, and just order it on DVD from here like I have everyhing else. I'm workin' on it, I'm workin' on it...