Arnold Schwarzenegger may have set the standard of an action-tough guy making an unlikely family comedy that features him taking care of children. The comedic dynamic of said concept has so much potential that many have tried their hand at it, including Vin Diesel in The Pacifier, Dwayne Johnson in The Game Plan, Jackie Chan in The Spy Next Door and Dave Bautista in My Spy. Mark Wahlberg is throwing his hat in the ring for AppleTV+’s The Family Plan, which just released its first trailer. The family film is set to release on December 15.
According to People, Wahlberg plays “a suburban dad and car salesman named Dan Morgan — whose secret past as an elite government assassin comes back to haunt him.” The synopsis continues, “When enemies from his past track him down, Dan packs his unsuspecting wife (Michelle Monaghan), angsty teen daughter, pro-gamer teen son and adorable 10-month-old baby into their minivan and takes off on an impromptu cross-country road trip to Las Vegas. Determined to protect his family — while treating them to the vacation of a lifetime — Dan must put his long-dormant skills into action, without revealing his true identity.”
Wahlberg is joined in the cast by Michelle Monaghan. The movie also stars Zoe Colletti, Van Crosby, Saïd Taghmaoui, Maggie Q and Ciarán Hinds.
The director of the film, Simon Cellan Jones, tells People, “I know he’s a huge movie star and all, but Mark is amazingly easy to work with. He’s got that secret sauce, obviously, he’s natural and instinctive, super professional and really well prepared.” He adds that Wahlberg “comes to work with strong and clear ideas about his character and the movie as a whole, but he’s also super collaborative.” Jones continues, “And, as you know, he’s just got funny bones. Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan are in top form as well — the two of them have incredible on-screen chemistry and you really buy into them as a married couple.” He also boasts that his child stars “are all-in as well and deliver great performances. I promise you’ve never seen a baby do stunts like this before.”
Hopefully The Family Plan is better than Apple’s last spy-comedy, Ghosted, which even star Chris Evans admitted could have been better.
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