It’s not a terrific movie, and it is certainly not without flaws, but I watched The Family Man this holiday season for the first time since seeing it in the theater when it came out just a little over a decade ago.

However, from a screenwriting and storytelling perspective, there are a lot of good things going on with this script. It has very solid structure, and is written as a classic Hero’s Journey, hitting on nearly all the steps at the proper moment in the script.

The main character is Jack Campbell, played by Nicholas Cage, and he’s a slick Wall Street broker who closes every deal and has a life filled with material riches that most people dream about. However, he wasn’t always like that.  The film starts with Jack at the airport, just about to get on a plane to London as his girlfriend, Kate Reynolds (Tea Leone) tries desperately to convince him not to go. He tells her he’ll only be gone for a year and that it will pass before she knows it. The scene ends with Jack leaving a tearful Kate behind as he gets on the plane.

The next time we see Jack, 13 years have past. He lives alone, is the alpha male in his office, knows the first name of every doorman and secretary. He also knows the strength and weakness of every executive he works with, and uses them to his advantage. He’s also a playboy and a ladies man, with a different woman every night, each one hotter than the one before.

This particular day is Christmas Eve and he gets a message from Kate. He remarks that he hasn’t seen her in years and is presumes that she’s pining for the old days before discarding the note. On his way home, he stops at a convenience store to pick up some egg nog. As he shops, a young, rough looking guy named Cash (Don Cheadle) walks in claiming to have a winning lottery ticket worth $250. The clerk says it’s a fake and refuses to pay it. Cash pulls a gun, and Jack convinces him to take $200 from him for the ticket, and Cash agrees. Jack chases him down on the street and offers to help him. Cash asks Jack what it is that he needs, and Jack tells him he has everything he needs. Cash laughs at him and tells him to enjoy what’s about to happen to him before walking away.

Jack goes home and wakes up Christmas morning next to Kate in their suburban New Jersey home. They have two young children, and Jack naturally freaks out and drives to the City where no one knows him. Cash drives up in Jack’s Ferrari and tells him that he’s offering him a glimpse of what his life would be. He hands Jack a bicycle bell and tells sends him back to New Jersey.

Jack spends the rest of the film learning that real wealth comes from the love of family and the simple life of teaching kids to ride bikes and taking part in the bowling league. However, it’s just a glimpse, and just about the time Jack has fallen completely in love with his family and accepted his role in his new life, he hears the bicycle bell ring. He turns around and sees that his daughter is holding the bike, but he fears that his old life is about to return. His fear is confirmed when he goes to the store to buy dog food and Cash is working the register. Jack tells him that he won’t go back, but the choice isn’t his. He struggles to stay awake that night, but wakes up the next morning. It’s Christmas again, and he’s all alone in his luxury apartment, like a bird living in a gilded cage.

What makes this film worth watching from a screenwriting standpoint is the strength of its structure as well as components of the Hero’s Journey. There is a clear Ordinary World for Jack that is shown as his life of Privilege in New York. He receives his Call to Adventure from Cash when he’s sent to suburbia. The Refusal of the Call happens when Jack drives back to the city in a desperate attempt to get his old life back. The Meeting the Mentor happens when Cash reappears and tells Jack what’s happening. Crossing the First Threshold happens when Jack goes back to New Jersey and fully enters his new life. The Tests, Allies and Enemies section happens right away when Jack meets his daughter, and she wonders where her real father is. He also meets his “best friend” Arnie (Jeremy Piven), the desperate housewife who wants to have an affair with him, and he discovers that Kate is a lawyer who only takes pro bono work. His tests are as mundane and unachievable as changing the baby’s diaper and walking the dog. The Approach to the Inmost Cave when a chance meeting with the CEO of his old firm leads him to the Supreme Ordeal, which is an interview at the firm, which he nails. The Reward is him taking Kate to New York City and showing her the opportunity that they have before them, but she refuses to take the children out of the life they’ve created. The Road Back shows Jack finally accepting his place in his new life, but at that moment, he’s sent back to his old life. The Resurrection happens when Jack finds the note from Kate and goes to see her. Unfortunately he finds out that she’s being transferred to Paris and she contacted him to give him back some old stuff that she still had from their relationship days. The Return With the Elixir happens when Jack convinces Kate not to go to Paris by telling her all about their lives together in this alternate universe that he’s experienced, because all the while, Jack has been learning how to be a real husband and has been re-falling in love with her.

The script also has terrific archetypes from the Hero’s Journey as well. My favorite archetype is one that is subtle, and it isn’t even a character. It’s the bicycle bell. Cash gives it to Jack almost as a throw-away moment, but as soon as it rings, the audience is made painfully aware that Jack’s time with the family is coming to an end. The bell acts as a Herald, foreshadowing Jack’s crisis. The other thing that makes that moment so effective is that there’s a powerful contrast in it. Is there a more cheerful sound than a bicycle bell? It’s a high-pitched ring that is symbolic of fun, playfulness and innocence. And as soon as you hear it in this moment, as an audience member, you’re filled with dread and disappointment, knowing that Jack’s true happiness is about to come to an end.

Other strong archetypes are the the daughter acting as a Threshold Guardian, because only her acceptance will allow Jack to truly become a member of the family. She also acts as a Mentor, giving Jack advice on how he’s supposed to act and telling him things that her real father used to do. Cash wears several hats, acting as Mentor, Trickster and Shadow.

Overall, this is a movie that you probably missed, but should certainly look for, especially during this Holiday season. It’s a film that has the type of script that could be instructive to the budding and aspiring screenwriter.