54
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertFamily Business tries to play it down the middle, when it probably should have jumped in one direction or the other, toward a pure caper or toward a family drama.
- Family Business is one of Lumet’s very worst movies, but the actors are stellar.
- 63Portland OregonianTed MaharPortland OregonianTed MaharFamily Business isn't really bad. It is thought-provoking throughout and has many fine moments. Unfortunately, most of those moments are in the first third. [18 Dec 1989, p.C05]
- 60EmpireAngie ErrigoEmpireAngie ErrigoThe three lead characters end the film as isolated as they began it. As with the plot, there isn't quite enough in the throwaway humour to hold them together.
- 50Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversHoff-man and Broderick manage an affecting reconciliation, and Connery remains a peerless charmer. Still, there’s no telling what drew these three to such trite material. It’s like hiring the Rolling Stones and forcing them to sing Barry Manilow.
- 50Chicago TribuneDave KehrChicago TribuneDave KehrThe film doesn't move to a satisfactory conclusion as much as it fizzles out in a series of protracted anti-climaxes. [15 Dec 1989, p.A]
- 50The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenDone up strictly for laughs, this might have been fine. But the picture actually starts taking itself seriously, and that spells instant yawns. [16 Dec 1989]
- 50Los Angeles TimesPeter RainerLos Angeles TimesPeter RainerA frail little caper movie that’s overawed by its cast.
- 50The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyThe three stars are good actors, but they have nothing much to work with. Their biggest challenge is to make the audience believe they are blood relatives, a question that would be quickly dismissed if the script were more compelling.
- 40Washington PostRita KempleyWashington PostRita KempleySlapdash Sidney Lumet directs this misbegotten three-star vehicle, an overpowered tricycle of a tale with Sean Connery, Dustin Hoffman and Matthew Broderick unconvincing as successive generations of the genetically eclectic McMullen clan.