Flavorwire

Family Business

Sidney Lumet’s 1989 caper drama gives us Sean Connery as Jessie, Dustin Hoffman as his son Vito, and Matthew Broderick as Hoffman’s son Adam. “Hoffman is Connery’s son, half Scots and half Sicilian,” wrote Roger Ebert in his review of the film, “and Broderick is Hoffman’s son, half Jewish. The movie makes such a point of the hereditary makeup of the three men, I guess, because the caper involves breaking into a genetic engineering laboratory and stealing some DNA research material.” We have another theory: the movie makes such a point of the hereditary makeup of the three men because no one would believe that Dustin Hoffman is Sean Connery’s son. Aside from the total physical and vocal dissimilarity, there’s one other factor worth mentioning: when the film was released, Connery was 59 and Hoffman was 52. We know Mr. Connery is a sex symbol, but it’s a little tough to believe that he fathered a child at the tender age of seven.