"For instance, the film contains arguably Bill Murray's best semi-dramatic performance in years, on a par with his melancholy, haunted and yet still droll-dry turns in Rushmore and Lost in Translation. Here he plays Leftie, an east coast mobster, once a bit of a capo but now semi-retired ever since he handed over the reins of the family business to his son Johnnie (Michael Angelo Covino). Something explained only later has brought Leftie back into the killing people business,"
"The family comedy element features an extended, blended brood that includes contractor Vincent (Ed Harris), his uptight, bougie second wife Sandy (Gabrielle Union) and their dorky teenage son DJ (Miles J Harvey). Their plans to enjoy New Year's Eve are interrupted when Vincent's previous family shows up unexpectedly. That includes his blowsy ex-wife Ruth (Jennifer Coolidge, also on excellent form), Vincent and Ruth's grownup son Rocco (Lewis Pullman), and Rocco's very pregnant girlfriend Marina (Emanuela Postacchini)."
The film fuses a bloody gangster-revenge plot with a family home-for-the-holidays comedy, forcing abrupt tonal pivots throughout. Bill Murray plays Leftie, a semi-retired east-coast mobster drawn back into killing after handing control to his son Johnnie; he travels north with a novice killer, Lonnie, and undertakes practice murders that burden him emotionally. The family strand centers on contractor Vincent, his second wife Sandy, and their teenage son DJ, whose New Year's plans are derailed when Vincent's previous family—ex-wife Ruth, adult son Rocco and pregnant girlfriend Marina—arrive on the run. Secrets and violent consequences emerge amid darkly comic moments, producing both messiness and surprising performances.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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