The Family Man

The Family Man is a 2000 "What If" film starring Nicolas Cage, Tea Leoni and Don Cheadle in which Cage plays Jack Campbell, a wealthy Wall Street executive who hears from his old college girlfriend and wonders what might have been. He has a fateful meeting with a man who magically sends him to an Alternate Universe where he married his college girlfriend.

The film is similar to It's a Wonderful Life because it starts on Christmas Eve. Moreover, by the end, Jack learns that living a quiet happy family life is preferable to achieving success and wealth at work.

Not to be confused with the Family Guy.


 * Ambition Is Evil
 * Book Ends: The film begins and ends at an airport.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: Jack Campbell's boss kinda comes across as much, he even jokes about the idea.
 * Defrosting Ice King: Jack Campbell.
 * Did Not Get the Girl:
 * Earn Your Happy Ending
 * For Want of a Nail: The entire meaning of Jack's alternate life, or glimpse.
 * Heel Face Turn: Jack, though he wasn't a really evil guy to begin with.
 * It's a Wonderful Plot
 * Lonely at the Top: Jack's life after moving to London in 1988.
 * Magical Negro: Cash.
 * Married to the Job
 * Memetic Mutation: This is the film where the "You Want This Cake?" exchange comes from.
 * Opinion-Changing Dream
 * The Scrooge: Jack Campbell, he got better.
 * Smug Snake: The alternate version of Alan Mintz.