Both an action comedy and a family road movie, The Family Plan (Family getaway) chronicles the increasingly bizarre attempts of Dan, a former secret agent, to maintain his anonymity in the suburbs. This, by hiding his past from his partner, Jessica, and their children. Unfortunately, his former corrupt boss has just found his trail. Pretending a surprise vacation to Las Vegas, Dan takes his people on the road, where he must neutralize the killers on his trail at every turn. As a husband whose marital flame is rekindled by danger, Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan are clearly having a lot of fun. What the two stars confirm Duty during an exclusive interview.
“I thought the script was really fun and I thought if it was executed the right way it would make a movie that people could easily relate to and enjoy together,” says Mark Wahlberg, contacted by videoconferencing.
You should know that David Coggeshall’s screenplay was part of the famous Hollywood blacklist (The Black List). Which brings together the most promising scenarios that have not found a buyer. That of Coggeshall did not stay there long, since Apple and the company Skydance (all recent Impossible mission, Top Gun: Maverick) quickly acquired the rights.
“Seeing how each member of the family fights for the others, how everyone intensifies their efforts and puts their all into it… I really liked it,” continues the actor, who also acts as a producer.
“I liked the idea of making a film that the whole family could see. And I was attracted by the prospect of playing a guy who has “a past”, but who just wants to protect his family,” explains the man who, speaking of his past, once made himself known as the singer of the hit Good Vibrations.
A renewed complicity
For her part, Michelle Monaghan was attracted for similar reasons, also appreciating the dilemmas and nuances of her character.
“It’s a script that I read and burst out laughing all the time – these scripts are rare. I immediately liked Jessica, this woman who has her own little secrets, who tries to keep her family intact, but who has frustrated desires: she would like a life a little larger, a little fuller… She wants truly reconnect with her husband and children, but she feels disconnected from them. As a wife, and as a mother of a teenager and a 10 year old child, I could completely relate to all of this. »
Added to this was the fact that she and Mark Wahlberg had already enjoyed working together… Indeed, the two stars previously collaborated on the thriller Patriots Day (Patriots Day, 2016), which looks back on the bombings that occurred at the Boston Marathon. Hence their complicity on screen.
“Calling on Michelle again was obvious. You know, she sets the tone [sur le plateau] and makes the experience enjoyable for everyone,” notes Mark Wahlberg.
Regarding their easy rapport in front of the camera, Michelle Monaghan says: “If it was so natural for me, it’s also because the conversations our characters have in the film, I have them with my own husband in life. You know: all those day-to-day decisions, whether it’s how much screen time children get or which school or university they choose… That whole part of the film felt very familiar and authentic. »
An eventful vacation
A guy of the moment
As for the other part, the one involving mercenaries and attackers of all kinds, Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan were, again, on familiar ground, accustomed as they are to action cinema. The first made it a specialty in serious and comic registers: Shooter (Sniper), The Other Guys (The reinforcements), Pain and Gain (Muscular blow)… As for the second, it appeared in Eagle Eye (The eye of evil) and three Impossible mission.
If they return to the genre so often, it is because with increased effort comes increased pleasure. “I like the challenge it represents, because it’s very difficult for me, action,” reveals Michelle Monaghan. I’m quite athletic, but I still have to work very hard to master these choreographies. I was lucky on this film to work with Maggie Q: a great actress with a crazy talent for stunts. And Mark… It seems so easy for him. He won’t tell you how many of his own stunts he’s performed, but it’s a lot. You just need to show it once, and presto! he achieves this in one take. It’s amazing. Me, I need to rehearse and be hyper-prepared. »
“I’m a guy of the moment,” agrees Mark Wahlberg. They rehearse the fight and the choreography with cables and all that, but I know that if I do that, I’m going to damage my back. I always say, “Let me try on the day of filming, and I will succeed.” But I don’t do that with my text: I learn that in advance,” explains the actor, smirking.
An unusual fight
Stunts and action scenes, The Family Plan don’t miss it. One of them actually turned out to be more complex than expected for Mark Wahlberg. “The sequence of the fight in the grocery store with the baby attached to me: I expected more use of the doll and digital effects. »
However, the director, Simon Cellan Jones, wanted to film a real baby laughing, unaware of the danger involved, in all the non-dangerous shots.
“In this context, with these types of movements, it was obvious that no baby was going to smile. It was laborious, but we got there, and the sequence works really well. »
Michelle Monaghan found it hilarious that, during a car chase during which her character sleeps with headphones on, a “new age” song by Enya was chosen as the soundtrack to the action. .
That being said, what matters most in the eyes of the two performers lies in the content more than in the form of the film. “Ultimately, Dan wants to be a good husband and a good father: that’s what’s most important to him. And for me too,” confides Mark Wahlberg, who leaves the final words to his playing partner.
Concludes Michelle Monaghan: “What I remember most is that the film is about a deepening connection between members of a family. With the holiday break approaching, this is a beautiful message, it seems to me. »