Everybody's Fine

Greetings again from the darkness. Writer/director Kirk Jones just needs to work a little more frequently. His first two projects were the fascinating Waking Ned Devine and the deeper than expected Nanny McPhee. The guy has some real talent and unique insight. He is also wise enough to cast Robert Deniro and then bring out his best performance in years.

Sure, there are some similarities to Nicholson's wonderful turn in About Schmidt, but contrary to the trailers, this one is no light-hearted holiday fluff. There are deep emotions and more real-life family baggage than most will care to admit (translated, there were quite a few sniffles in the theatre).

Deniro's kids are scattered about leading their own lives after a childhood of pressure, demands and expectations. The differences in how each have handled it is very interesting. Drew Barrymore wants very much to be the daddy's girl, while Kate Beckinsale is the corporate type-A who just can't manage her family. The always excellent Sam Rockwell is the music prodigy enjoying his stress-free live as a symphonic percussionist (instead of a conductor). The youngest is a troubling story line that ends up tying everything together for the Deniro character, as well as the family.

Aside from the mostly atrocious music, this one is an emotional tug-fest that will stimulate a bit of self-analysis from all parents.

This is not your typical holiday movie nor at the end of the week- movie.Not everybody's fine.

The story revolves around a father(De Niro), who's wife has passed away, and his desire to reunite his four children for the holidays.Now, when he's alone, preparing the house for the upcoming holidays, all of his children cancel the holiday meeting with no explanation.The lonely man sets on a journey around the States to find his children and learn the truth as well as to reunite the family again.The truths, he finds, are more painful, than he could ever imagine.

The story is obvious at the beginning-but then the viewer begins to discover painful truths, the now-grown-kids are keeping away from their loving father.There are some very inventing and innovating twists, that are merely unpredictable.The story is told beautifully, with some poetry in it, which improves on Robert De Niro's brilliant acting.I would say, he deserves a higher praise, for what he has done, because i personally think, that Jeff Bridges wasn't better than him, with all my respect, of course.De Niro's outstanding performance carries the movie until the end.

As for the other cast, i wasn't that impressed.Kate Beckinsale and Drew Barrymore were at the same level of quality, but that just wasn't enough.Sam Rockwell was mediocre, definitely not good enough.I know they were supposed to be cold, but even coldness can be portrayed better than that.

The director did his best, which wasn't that much, considering the cast and script he had to work with.Every director should be able to pull it off, when he works with an amazing actors (again, mostly De Niro in that case), and a solid script.But as a whole, he did a good job.

I felt, that the tragedy was a little to much in the end, but things couldn't have been better revealed than this.It was depressing, but necessary to say the least.And again, i'm looking at De Niro with new eyes now, he touched me so deep.

The pain is deep sometimes.But you have to fight with it to keep your family united, and together, no matter the distance.The distance in your heart is, what really matters.And in the end Everybody's Fine.

My rate: 8.5/10

How many times have you ever asked, or ever were asked the question: How are things? Invariably, one replies, "everything is fine," except of course it's not true. The response is a polite brush-off. This movie is about how a man decides not to accept the brush-off, this time coming from his own children and as a result makes some interesting discoveries. This movie contains Robert DeNiro's strongest role in years. The entire story revolves around his character and he really brings the character to life. A brilliant performance by a great actor. This movie is like Robert Young in Father-Knows-Best deciding to really connect with his children after years of just being around. What's even better is that the movie avoids becoming trite and effectively brings the audience into this family's world as the story explores themes that are relevant to all families. Children grow up, leave the home, go their separate ways, leaving behind memories. A wonderful movie.

Ah, platitudes. We're all guilty of using them. They're a polite way of telling someone to buzz off, that you don't want to talk to them, that they are unworthy of your time. This movie is all about platitudes, most cruelly applied when it's least needed or wanted. In this movie a man wants to initiate communication with his children, all of whom are adults and have long since left the home, and he and his children go through a lot of changes as they attempt to bridge the gulf that separates them. This doesn't mean the children don't care about their father, they do. But the emotional closeness was never there and this is what this movie is about: breaking down barriers to establish an emotional connection. This movie is a Robert DeNiro vehicle. It is his re-emergence onto the Hollywood scene after years of cinematic oblivion. His performance is a tour de force; he deserves at least an Academy Award nomination for best actor. He carries the movie. Drew Barrymore also gives an impressive performance as one of Mr. DeNiro's daughters. Ms. Barrymore shines on the screen and proves once again that she is one of the premiere actresses in Hollywood. Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsdale also are excellent. What a great movie! Never cold-shoulder your father.

This is the best Robert DeNiro movie in years. His strong acting carries this sentimental story about a man trying to reconnect with his children. The movie places a strong emphasis on family relationships and does an excellent job in engaging and keeping the audience's attention as Mr. DeNiro's character embarks on an odyssey of emotional discovery. At times the story verges on becoming openly maudlin but succeeds in avoiding that pitfall. The movie also avoids becoming hokey and corny and succeeds in staying on course as the DeNiro character continues on his journey. All in all, this is a wonderful movie featuring a strong performance by Robert DeNiro. After watching this movie, you will think twice before telling someone "everybody's fine" unless you mean it.

Everybody's Fine (2009)

*** (out of 4)

Robert DeNiro plays a widower who grows tired of his four children making excuses for not coming to see him so he disregards his doctor's orders and takes a trip to visit all four. Along the way he starts to think about their childhood and where their lives are at now. I remember when THIS BOYS LIFE was released it featured a trailer that would make you think you were walking into one of the greatest family films ever made even though the actual film was a dark one about child abuse. I mention that because this film is pretty much the same effect as the poster, TV ads and trailer makes you think that you're in for a good time but the film is actually an incredibly depressing affair but it finally gives star DeNiro a true character and he does great work with it. Now, I'm not one of those who thinks DeNiro has wasted one performance after another for the past twenty years. I think he's given several very good performances even though many of the characters weren't the strongest items for an actor of his range. The performance here is downright terrific and truly deserves to be called that "old DeNiro" style. DeNiro doesn't need words to show what his character is feeling and he perfectly brings to life this rather sad character who is smart enough to know there's a lot more going on with his children then they're willing to tell him. I found DeNiro to be perfect and one would hope he'd get some Oscar consideration but that probably won't happen considering how the film did at the box office (but I would ask why that should matter). DeNiro gets to interact with various characters and the amount of life he brings this character will make one remember the type of work he was turning in on a consistent basis years ago. I won't ruin DeNiro's big scene towards the end but it's certainly very overwhelming. The supporting cast has Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell playing the children and they all give fine performances and mix with DeNiro very well. I do wish the actual film would have been a bit stronger because it's extremely depressing but at times I felt the film was holding back. I really can't explain what but it just never really felt like a full movie and at times there were some plot details that were a tad bit over dramatic and other times that the film pushes too hard to get its point across. While the film does have its share of problems, the real reason for anyone to watch this is for the return of DeNiro and that alone makes this worth seeing. Again, not the happiest film out there but at least we get to see DeNiro playing his best character in quite a while.

When I went to see this, I expected one of those progressive stories like he was getting ditched and as he went and surprised them things got better, they had laughs and things were healed sort of typical thing. But it definitely didn't go down like that. There were about maybe 8 people in the theater when I went to see this movie, 3 of them were me and my 2 friends.

I have to say this movie was really sad and had a lot to say about child/parent relations. I am only 18 years old but I love these types of films and it made me think about how I would be with my parents when I get older and it really makes me want to make sure I keep a good relationship with my parents. My dad has always pushed me and wanted better for me in school and I have always been very average and against the grain, as it seems like David was.

I don't know if the makers wanted the relation between Frank and his kids to seem empty, but that's how it seemed to be throughout the film until the end. Even if it was lack of chemistry between actors, which of course I highly doubt it was, it works wonders and shows that Frank is like an alien to them and also that they are alien to him. When he learns that all of his children aren't actually as successful, he seems like he's struggling within to try and understand where they're coming from instead of just showing his disappointment. When things finally come tumbling down towards the film's climax, they come right back together as a family would. This movie made me tear up and really the only reason I didn't cry was because I was with friends.

I could write a lot more about this but I'll just suggest that if you're looking for a good movie about family, or even if you just like De Niro(that's why I saw it), you should definitely see this movie. It won't disappoint.