Michelle Pffeifer made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood’s Knight but didn’t gain mainstream attention until her breakout performance opposite Al Pacino in 1983’s Scarface and since then she has grown from strength-to-strength.
In celebration of the upcoming release of gangster action comedy, THE FAMILY out on Blu-ray & DVD on March 31st starring Hollywood heavyweights Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook, Meet The Fockers, Taxi) and Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface, Dark Shadows, Starudst), we take a look at our leading lady’s top five films.
Scarface (1983)
Scarface tells the story of Cuban refugee Tony Montana (Al Pacino) who arrives in 1980s Miami with nothing, and rises up to become a powerful drug kingpin. Icy yet smoking hot with effortless chic style, Pfeiffer is the apple of drug Montana’s eye in this cult classic from Brian De Palma.
Married to the Mob (1988)
Michelle is a polar opposite to her character in Scarface in the hit comedy Married to the Mob. She plays the wife of Mafia hitman ‘Cucumber’ – Frank de Marco (Alec Baldwin) who regularly chastises her husband for his underhanded line of work and is utterly hilarious at it!
Batman Returns (1992)
Slinky yet slightly insane vixen Pfeiffer plays Catwoman in 1992′s “Batman Return”. There have been many versions of Catwoman’s origins over the years including Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises, Halle Berry in Catwoman and Julia Rose in Batman: Return to the Cave, but none of them brought as much emotional depth to the character as to Pfeiffer did.
Dangerous Minds (1995)
Michelle Pfeiffer plays an ex-marine teacher Louanne Johnson, who takes up a teaching position in an inner city school but struggles to connect with her students. With an edge, toughness and working knowledge of hand-to-hand combat, Pfeiffer proves that a rough school is no match for her. This contemporary film about a bleak school became a surprise box office success surpassing negative critical reception at the time.
Stardust (2007)
Michelle Pfeiffer plays evil witch ‘Lama’ who craves the beauty of youth. She sinks her teeth into the villain role as she tries to steal Yvaine (Claire Daines), a fallen star who turns out to beautiful a young princess. Also co-starring in the film is Robert De Niro as Captain Shakespeare, Stardust mixes in romance and adventure, in a fantasy movie guise.
The Family (2013)
Pfeiffer returns to her roots as a mafia’s wife in The Family. Reunited with co-star Robert De Niro as “The Manzoni Family” – their husband and wife onscreen chemistry is endearing and hilarious! Pfeiffer is tough as nails but has a soft side for her close-knit mafia clan by being the rock of the family who is able to hit the ground running wherever they end up hiding.
The Family is out on Blu-ray & DVD on March 31.
About THE FAMILY
Written and directed by BAFTA® winner Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, Taxi, Taken) and produced by Oscar® winner Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island, The Departed, Hugo).
THE FAMILY stars a line up of Hollywood heavyweights including: Academy award® winner Robert DeNiro (Silver Linings Playbook, Meet The Fockers, Taxi) as tough and fiery family man Fred Blake; Academy award® winner Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln, No Country for Old Men, Hope Springs) as CIA Agent Robert Stansfield; Academy award® nominee Michelle Pfeiffer (Scarface, Dark Shadows, Stardust) as wife and firecracker Maggie Blake; Dianna Agron (Glee) as All-American Belle Blake; and John D’Leo (The Wrestler) as wise guy Warren Blake.
A mafia boss and his family are relocated to a sleepy town in France under the Witness Protection Program after breaking the sacred code and snitching on the his crew. However, despite Agent Stansfield’s (Jones) best efforts to keep them in line, Fred Blake (De Niro), his wife Maggie (Pfeiffer) and their children can’t help but resort to old habits by handling all their problems the “family” way. But the Mob doesn’t forget and, as his old crew closes in on their location, chaos ensues and old scores are settled as Fred is caught in the middle of a life-or-death showdown between his two families.
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