The Family Plan 2 Parent Guide

The Family Plan 2 continues the story of the Morgan family whom you might have met in the first Family Plan movie. If you didn’t, rest assured: Watching the first of the two movies is not essential to understanding what’s happening in the sequel. This should probably be enough information for you to draw the correct conclusions about the quality of The Family Plan 2. Not convinced? Allow me to illustrate:

Mark Wahlberg reprises his role as Dan Morgan, a used car salesman in Buffalo, New York. He is a dedicated dad to his three children Nina, Kyle, and Max (played by Zoe Colletti, Van Crosby, and twins Peter and Theodore Lindsey) and is devoted to his wife, Jessica (Michelle Monaghan). When Dan finds out that his daughter is going to stay in London for Christmas, he arranges for the whole family to fly to England so they can be together over the holidays.

Next thing you know, Jessica has been kidnapped. Then, Dan’s hitherto-unknown half-brother (Kit Harington) appears and Dan is forced to stage a bank robbery and fight for his and his family’s lives in an action-packed international chase. Don’t you just hate it when that happens?

Dan’s family has a “here we go again” reaction when he tells them what’s going on, but they rally, using their varying skills to help him in his battles. Jessica is suddenly capable of super-human feats of combat prowess and the kids use technology in ways that Silicon Valley has yet to imagine. Many of the fight and chase scenes just happen to take place in front of iconic landmarks like Sacré-Cœur in Paris and the Parliament buildings in London. Particularly annoying are several unjustified surprises which made me feel a bit cheated.

The plot is fast-paced, but not quick enough to cover for the many clichés and unfunny jokes that litter the script. The family definitely has a favourite cuss word and it is used liberally, often in an attempt at humour. Parents will note a cringe-worthy moment when the Dan and Jessica and their daughter joke about hiding stashes of pot as teenagers. I think it was meant to be an amusing family bonding moment, but it falls flat.

Throughout the movie, there is an attempt to make family unity the overarching theme of the story. The whole togetherness thing would be more believable if there were even one relationship that felt genuine but none of the characters ever seem to “click”. It’s a shame, as a successful message of familial love and loyalty could have been enough to save Family Plan 2.

About author

Shannon Bugg

Shannon Bugg is the mother of four and grandmother of six outstanding human beings.  She has a B. Ed., volunteers in her community and at church and is a world-travelling bon-vivant and woman-about-town.