Everybody’s Fine
Up until a few years ago the presence of Robert De Niro in any movie would guarantee a definite hit. However, recently he seems to have lost his charm, and with his latest film, a drama called Everybody’s Fine, he is unclear on which direction to take.
The film starts in a good fast pace with some funny scenes of Frank Goode (De Niro), a retiree who lives alone in his family home after the death of his wife a few months ago. When all four of his children are unable to visit him on a reunion weekend, Frank decides to visit each of them individually. He takes a train journey to see his youngest child, David, first. When he realizes David isn’t home, Frank travels to surprise Amy (Kate Beckinsale), and then goes on to see Robert (Sam Rockwell) and Rosie (Drew Barrymore).
Although all three children are polite to their father, they are not caring towards him, only communicating in a formal manner. Frank soon discovers that they have kept secrets from him for years, making him finally realize that he could have been more encouraging.
Unfortunately, by the time that Amy takes Frank to her advertising agency the movie starts to lose track of where it is headed. Frank practices a pitch to some co-workers of Amy’s, but it is neither funny nor serious, and really begins to drain the audience’s attention. When Frank later goes to see Robert at an orchestra hall, he is immediately disappointed to learn that Robert is not the orchestra conductor, but just a percussionist. What follows is a sad conversation with Robert telling Frank that he never wanted to be a conductor, as only Frank had that expectation of him. When Frank sees Rosie afterwards in Las Vegas, we are given a totally different lifestyle, starting with her picking Frank up from the bus station in a stretched limo. Rosie plays the lead in a show there, and we are instantly given a look at this lifestyle when she takes Frank back to her glamorous penthouse.
Although Frank is by no means a cruel father, he is not the image of a typical loving one. If the film had included some scenes from their childhood it would have made the structure of the film flow much better. When Frank suffers from a heart attack all three children rush to his side, and soon tell him the reality that his other child, David, had died in an accident in Mexico, and he can’t believe that after all these years he wasn’t told. The film ends with Frank and his children having a Christmas dinner at his house, with each child seeming less grateful to have all their family around them, and to be strained in the scene. Overall I think that although this is certainly not the worst family film out, it is definitely a disappointment over what it could have been.
Everybody’s Fine • Dolby® Digital surround sound in select theatres • Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 • Running Time: 100 minutes • MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements and brief strong language. • Distributed by Miramax Film Corp.