Reviews
Everybody’s Fine
February 26 2010
Kirk Jones
Starring Robert De Niro, Kate Beckinsale, Drew Barrymore
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From the psychotic bully of This Boy’s Life to the working stiff of A Bronx Tale or the semi-retired black-ops wet-jobber of Meet The Parents, Robert De Niro has always made for a particularly gruff on-screen parent.
The tension of those films, be it dramatic or comedic, is built on resentment, anger or misguided overprotection. But in Everybody’s Fine – a remake of 1990 Italian flick Stanno Tutti Bene – De Niro’s grown children avoid him as much as they can simply because they find him… well, just a little distant. Recently widowed, De Niro’s retired blue-collar geezer invites his kids for a big family dinner. When they all give him the brush off he decides to take a road trip to visit each one of them, with the vague, unformed intention of recombining his atomised family.
It’s a four-square set-up, but with only the barest flicker of familial friction heating the undercooked drama – and don’t be fooled by the jaunty trailer or upbeat home-for-the-holidays poster; this is drama all the way – you’ll be as hard pushed as the cast evidently are to muster any interest.
Sam Rockwell invests his role as De Niro’s well-adjusted slacker son with all the vigour of a man paying off a long-standing gambling debt. Barrymore and Beckinsale offer no more spark as his largely content, perfectly centred daughters. And De Niro himself does little more than huff around looking mildly disappointed that he didn’t take a bit more interest in his kids.
It’s all rather aimless, but the leaden-footed decision to include scenes with De Niro’s grown kids replaced by their ‘remember-me-like-this-daddy?’ pre-teen counterparts, a repellent and incessant indie soundtrack, and a saccharine epilogue terminally hobble any strides the film might have made.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGXuhyVxrQM
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In Retrospect:
I had preconceptions about watching this movie (mainly Kate Beckinsale), but was surprised to fine it rather heartfelt and utterly compelling. The best parts of the movie were the one's with De Niro travelling around by himself. I only have two main problems. 1. I hated the children we actually meet. i.e. Barrymore, Rockwell and Beckinsale. There performances were dry. 2. How can you mourne the death of someone you have never met?
Written by sara mcphee on March 24th, 2010 at 05:52
"2. How can you mourne the death of someone you have never met? "
Hi Sara, I haven't seen the film, and so have no opiniionwhatsoever on its content – but in (partial) answer to your question, I doubt that many of the mourners for Diana Spencer or Michael Jackson had actually met the lamented.
Written by Anton Bitel on March 24th, 2010 at 09:27
My wife cried at David's death … so it's very much possible if you truly watch this movie for the message it's trying to portray.
Written by Jawz on May 1st, 2010 at 20:04