I went into The Family Man not knowing what to expect. I saw the trailer many times and although it looked promising, I knew that, quite often, those short snippets can be more entertaining than the movie itself. However, unlike many disappointments this year, I was more than pleasantly surprised with The Family Man. This well-acted and tightly directed movie is one of the most pleasing of the year.

Nicolas Cage plays Jack Campbell, a young and wealthy New York executive. He is, by all accounts, what we would deem successful; he seems to have everything that a man could want. To achieve all this, mind you, he had to leave his girlfriend Kate (Téa Leoni) some 13 years prior and, as he put it, "take the road less traveled." He’s still single and he’s never looked back … until now.

With the help of a convenience store robber (Don Cheadle, who we presume to be an angel), Jack is catapulted into a life he never wanted. He wakes up on Christmas with Kate and two children. He is offered a glimpse of what might have been had he never left Kate. Gone is his penthouse condo, he’s now in a modest family home. He’s no longer a New York executive; he now works for his father-in-law at a local tire store. And the Ferrari he once cherished is now replaced by a mini van. Still, despite this modest lifestyle Jack is a success in a different way.

The key to this film’s success is Cage’s outstanding performance. While the plot is far-fetched, he makes it all the more realistic by his convincing portrayal of both the wealthy businessman, and the regular, down-to-earth guy. Jack Campbell, the driven executive, and Jack Campbell, the caring father, are very much the same guy. Jack’s new understanding of what truly makes one successful is slow, deliberate and convincing. What could have been corny and ridiculous has turned out to be one of the best films this year and deserves a **** rating.

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