Toots and the Maytals‘ 1974 single “Take Me Home, Country Roads” makes the soundtrack of Mark Wahlberg’s latest film, “The Family Plan” on Apple TV+.
The song is a cover of the 1971 classic “Country Roads” by American acoustic singer John Denver, co-written by Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert, and Denver himself. Denver’s original version, now certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, was initially released on April 12, 1971, as part of the album “Poems, Prayers & Promises.” Remarkably, it reached No. 2 on Billboard’s US Hot 100 singles chart for the week ending August 28, 1971.
This Jamaican reggae rendition of the song which replaces “West Virginia” with “West Jamaica” was released on the group’s second studio album “In The Dark” by Dragon Records, a label owned by Island Records founder Christ Blackwell.
“Take Me Home, Country Roads” was last synchronized in Nextlfix’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and on Outer Banks in 2021. The song has surpassed 2 million streams on Spotify.
“The Family Plan” which premiered on Apple TV+ December 15, 2023 is directed by Simon Cellan Jones, who makes his return to feature films after a two-decade TV career.
In the movie, Mark Wahlberg play Dan Morgan, an average family man leading a double life as a former assassin. The film attempts to blend espionage with suburban family tropes, reminiscent of films like “True Lies” or “Nobody.”
Dan used to be a hired assassin, working for a shadowy figure named McCaffrey. When his cover is blown, he seeks help from an old comrade, Augie, played by Said Taghmaoui, to relocate his family. This sets the stage for a road trip from Buffalo to Vegas, where Dan plans to reveal the truth to his wife Jessica (Michelle Monaghan) and address his family issues.
Cellan Jones and Wahlberg worked together on “Arthur the King” and this action-comedy explores the lives of Wahlberg and co-star Michelle Monaghan’s suburban family as they navigate the fallout from Wahlberg’s character being exposed as a past government assassin.
In a Hollywood Reporter interview, Cellan Jones discusses a memorable scene involving a baby.
“The baby did a lot of her own stunts, but that was one of those scenes where we got away with it. When we shot it, I was going, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be a disaster.’ And the baby, quite reasonably, did not really appreciate being strapped to somebody and then flying around a supermarket with somebody looking like he was trying to hit her. So we had to be very patient there, but that’s mostly real footage of the baby. There’s very little CG and very little tricky photography,” Cellan said.
Other music on the soundtrack of “The Family Plan” are “Dirty” by Grandson from the 2020 ‘Death of an Optimist’ album. The rock song “Ready Set Go” by Grace Potter from Potter’s 2023 album ‘Mother Road.’
“Only Time” by Enya on ‘A Day Without Rain'(2000), “Shake Your Hips” by The Legendary Shack Shakers form ‘Cockadoodledon’ (2003).
Stream soundtrack on Spotify below:
