Everybody's Fine (2009)
Starring Robert DeNiro, Drew Barrymore, Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale, and Melissa Leo
Directed by Kirk Jones
Everybody's Fine was a big failure at the box office last holiday season, but after watching I can't understand why. Sure, it's overly dramatic, but it's a lovely little film featuring some nice performances from all of the lead actors, particularly Robert DeNiro who has certainly slummed his way through movies in the last decade or so.
It's been a few months since Frank Goode's (DeNiro) wife has passed away and he is eagerly looking forward to a get-together with all of his grown adult children. However, when they all bail on him, Frank decides to travel around the country and visit each one, hoping to reconnect with them and become a greater part of their lives.
That's the story in a nutshell. It's simple and it's kind of sweet and it surprisingly works. Director and screenwriter Kirk Jones has crafted a really lovely film in both appearance and substance. While he admittedly gets a tad heavy-handed towards the end, it never felt too sugary or overly sentimental.
The reason for that, in part, is the pleasant and understated performance from Mr. DeNiro. In recent years, DeNiro has veered way over-the-top whether that be in the godawful Fockers movies, Analyze That, or pretty much anything else in his recent oeuvre. Here, DeNiro throws aside the caricature of his former actorly self that he's been playing for the last decade and instead is simply an aging, hard-working father who misses his wife and wants to form a better relationship with his kids. It was actually a surprising departure for DeNiro and a track I'd like to see him continue on in years to come.
DeNiro is joined by the lovely Kate Beckinsale as his eldest daughter and Sam Rockwell as his eldest son and both of them make the most of the roles. Beckinsale, in particular, surprised me. Not that I've even seen the Underworld series of films, but that's what I associate her most with. I keep forgetting that she gave a bravura performance in 2008's Nothing But the Truth (rent it...trust me), and while her performance in this flick didn't blow me away, it certainly made me remember that the lady can actually act. [And, although the less said the better, even Drew Barrymore didn't annoy me in this as much as she usually can, although she is playing the same exact character she plays in every other movie...seriously, how is she still popular?]
I honestly watched this because it was the holiday season and I remember there being a tree on the poster...don't be fooled into thinking this is a holiday movie, however. It's not in the slightest. Nevertheless, despite that misleading advertising, Everybody's Fine is a flick that surpassed my middling expectations and actually won me over quite a bit with its charm.
The RyMickey Rating: B
No comments:
Post a Comment