Jack Campbell, a successful and talented businessman, is happily living his single and busy life. He has everything, he thinks. One day he wakes up in a new life where he didn't leave his college girlfriend for a London trip. He's married to Kate, lives in Jersey and has two kids. He, of course, desperately wants his life back which he has worked 13 years for, rather than works as a tire salesman at Big Ed's. And most importantly he doesn't want to wake up in the morning with kids jumping on the bed. However, as time goes by, day by day he's more confident with his new life and starts to find out what he once ignored, turning out money's good to have but that's not everything.
During the whole film, what impresses me most is the lovely girl, who figures out that her father has changed into someone completely strange. Though she is scared ,she still wants to defend her brother against the “alien”. She is so smart and brave ,and we must admit that children are adorable spirits of sensitivity and imagination.
At the end of the film, Jack goes back to his original life, making every effort to retain his love. According to the usual mode of films, it’s not difficult for us to infer the old-fashioned ending-----prince finds his true love and live a happy life with the princess. What a beautiful fairy tale.
However, to be honest, I don’t endorse this movie. Well,"The unexamined life is not worth living." Brett Ratner puts this theme into The Family Man, but neither of the parallel lives led by the main character is shown to be flawless, I think. I would rather take them as two different individuals after they make their choices. Choice can change one’s life ,environment can grind one’s edges and corners, failure can kill one’s will ,but what they cannot change is the character of a person. This character, or nature, is formed after our childhood. So I don’t want to judge the lives of two Jack which is better. I just want to say,
every one has his own life.
Original Jack ,as he said, makes perfect plans to everything, never doubts, never regrets. He is satisfied with his life, working hard without any loneliness. But he is thrown into another world, which is full of daily trifles. He is shown to another Jack’s memories, photos, videos, forced to received other’s life style. He , as well as us ,is brainwashed into believing that the man should have been like this. But why? Who prescribed? Because it accords with the warm imagination of the majority ? Isn’t it unfair to him?
At the beginning of the movie, the successful Jack is still single after many years. Can’t he even find a woman to marry except Kate? In the view of his status and capability, it’s impossible. It just shows a fact that he doesn’t want to get married, starting from the airport. Compared to love others, he prefers wealth, status, freedom, all the time.
This is the first Jack, an out-and-out businessman ,maybe he is indifferent, but he is successful.
Well, there is another part in the Parallel world makes me feel ridiculous. Jack managed to get executive position through his eloquence and confidence from his previous boss. He looked forward to a better life together with his family, while Kate started to brainwash, saying I can scarified everything -----the house, good school for children , brilliant career, just because of love, as if their life would have been totally destroyed by a superior apartment.
Every one has his limit of ability, and it’s happiness to recognize it and satisfy. But when you have the ability to enjoy a cozy life, you insist stay in the slums. This not called happiness.
I feel sorrowful. We all have dreams, why is it noble only when the dream is about love and family, why not career? Even somebody may have sympathy to the first Jack: you are certainly wealthy and capable, but you lack friendship, love and family. You can just own one-night stand instead of a wife. Haha~ In fact ,Jack has his daily circle and life style----delicious food, wonderful trip, beautiful girls, and most important, career. I can’t understand ,why happy life must be ordinary. This is another hidden rule imposed on our mind: the rich know nothing about love and happiness. Ordinary happiness of family life is destined to be destroyed by great ability of work. But that is not a truth, not necessarily.
Let all “what if ” go to hell and live as you choose,I just want to say. As long as you select, please be faithful to the heart, have no doubt, and never regret.