# The Family Man
**The Family Man** is a 2000 American romantic fantasy comedy-drama directed by [Brett Ratner](https://www.edgepedia.org/brett-ratner), in which [Nicolas Cage](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicolas-cage) plays Jack Campbell, a wealthy [Wall Street](https://www.edgepedia.org/wall-street) trader who wakes up on Christmas Day in an alternate suburban New Jersey life with Kate, the college sweetheart he left 13 years earlier, and must choose between his high-powered career and the woman he loves.[1](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/the-family-man) • [2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-family-man/) Universal Pictures released it wide in the United States on December 22, 2000.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Family-Man-The)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | Wide domestic release December 22, 2000 by Universal; earliest release December 14, 2000 (Germany); video release July 17, 2001[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Family-Man-The) • [4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0218967/credits/) |
| Director and writers | Brett Ratner; screenplay by David Diamond and David Weissman, an original screenplay[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-family-man/) • [3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Family-Man-The) |
| Principal cast | Nicolas Cage (Jack Campbell), Téa Leoni (Kate Reynolds), Don Cheadle (Cash), Jeremy Piven (Arnie)[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0218967/credits/) |
| Running time and rating | 125 minutes; PG-13 for sensuality and some language[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Family-Man-The) |
| Box office | $75,764,085 domestic, $48,951,778 international, $124,715,863 worldwide against a $60,000,000 production budget[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Family-Man-The) |
| Critical reception | Metascore 42 (mixed or average) from 28 critic reviews; user score 7.1 from 76 ratings[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-family-man/) |
| Music | Score composed by Danny Elfman; the film won the BMI Film Music Award in 2001[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0218967/credits/) • [5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218967/awards/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Jack Campbell is a single, wealthy Wall Street trader with a sports car, a wardrobe of expensive suits, and a swank apartment. One morning he wakes up in suburban New Jersey next to Kate, the girlfriend he left 13 years ago to pursue his career; he now has two children and has traded his Ferrari for a minivan.[1](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/the-family-man) The alternate life begins after an encounter with a mysterious robber named Cash ([Don Cheadle](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-cheadle)): Jack wakes to find himself married to Kate, with two children, working as a tire salesman in New Jersey.[6](https://www.deseret.com/2000/12/22/19545590/family-man-nowhere-near-a-wonderful-life/) As he stumbles through this alternate universe, Jack reaches a crossroads where he must choose between his high-powered career and the woman he loves.[1](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/the-family-man)
## Production and writing
Screenwriters David Diamond and David Weissman developed the screenplay over five years and stayed with the project the whole time.[7](https://scriptmag.com/features/breaking-entering-techniques-to-elevate-your-writing-by-diamond-weissman) They described the film's theme as the relationship between love and ambition: every character in the movie can be placed somewhere on a spectrum from ambition to love.[7](https://scriptmag.com/features/breaking-entering-techniques-to-elevate-your-writing-by-diamond-weissman) The production company was Big Ed Picture Company, with Universal as domestic distributor; the crew included [Danny Elfman](https://www.edgepedia.org/danny-elfman) as composer, Dante Spinotti as cinematographer, Kristi Zea as production designer, and producers Marc Abraham, Tony Ludwig, Alan Riche, and Howard Rosenman.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Family-Man-The) • [4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0218967/credits/)
## Box office
The film opened on December 22, 2000 in 2,388 theaters with a weekend gross of $15,104,055, 19.9 percent of its eventual domestic total.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Family-Man-The) It finished with $75,764,085 domestically and $48,951,778 internationally, for a worldwide total of $124,715,863, about 2.1 times its $60,000,000 production budget; the domestic share was 60.7 percent.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Family-Man-The) Inflation-adjusted, its domestic gross equals $164,241,310.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Family-Man-The)
## Reception
Critics were divided. The film's Metascore on Metacritic is 42, labeled mixed or average, based on 28 critic reviews, of which 8 were positive, 15 mixed, and 5 negative; registered users scored it 7.1, generally favorable, based on 76 ratings.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-family-man/) Reviewers repeatedly measured it against holiday morality tales: the [San Francisco Chronicle](https://www.edgepedia.org/san-francisco-chronicle)'s Bob Graham wrote that Cage gives a performance that invites audiences to lay cynicism aside in a romantic fable, while the Deseret News review was titled "'Family Man' nowhere near a 'Wonderful Life'" and argued that Cage's character, more like [Ebenezer Scrooge](https://www.edgepedia.org/ebenezer-scrooge) than George Bailey, never transforms enough to earn his happy ending.[2](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-family-man/) • [6](https://www.deseret.com/2000/12/22/19545590/family-man-nowhere-near-a-wonderful-life/) Salon compared it to both *A Christmas Carol* and *It's a Wonderful Life* while criticizing Kate as a thin role.[8](https://www.salon.com/2000/12/22/family_man/)
## Legacy
The film has retained a holiday audience. The screenwriters said in 2022 that it was severely under-appreciated in its time and remains a warm-hearted fable about human connection and reassessing one's priorities, and they were adapting it into a stage musical, which they described as a real crowd-pleaser despite the story's melancholy undertone.[9](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-family-man-screenwriters-adapting-nic-cage-film-into-musical) Universal keeps it in home-video circulation on digital, Blu-ray, and DVD.[1](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/the-family-man)
## References
1. [The Family Man, Universal Pictures At Home](https://www.universalpicturesathome.com/movies/the-family-man)
2. [The Family Man Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-family-man/)
3. [The Family Man (2000) Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Family-Man-The)
4. [The Family Man (2000) Credits, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0218967/credits/)
5. [The Family Man (2000) Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218967/awards/)
6. ['Family Man' nowhere near a 'Wonderful Life', Deseret News, December 22, 2000](https://www.deseret.com/2000/12/22/19545590/family-man-nowhere-near-a-wonderful-life/)
7. [Breaking & Entering: Techniques to Elevate Your Writing by Diamond & Weissman, Script Magazine](https://scriptmag.com/features/breaking-entering-techniques-to-elevate-your-writing-by-diamond-weissman)
8. ["The Family Man", Salon.com, December 22, 2000](https://www.salon.com/2000/12/22/family_man/)
9. [The Family Man Writers Discuss Nicolas Cage Fantasy Film, Syfy Wire](https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/the-family-man-screenwriters-adapting-nic-cage-film-into-musical)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2000 to 2002 › Comedies of 2000*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license