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Title: Everybody’s Fine
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, there is some language. Recommended for ages 11 and up. |
Though I’ve always respected Robert de Niro for his career I have to admit that I haven’t enjoyed him in a movie in years. Thanks to “Everybody’s Fine” that has now changed, as this is de Niro’s best film in years. In the film de Niro plays Frank Goode, a retired PVC-cable coverer who is all alone on account that his wife has died and his kids have all grown up and left the house. Looking forward to seeing them on Christmas, he is dismayed when they all cancel on him and - seeing that he has nothing but free time on his hands - decides to go visit the kids himself. One by one he visits them. They claim they are happy to see him but...he smells something fishy.
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He is right to be suspicious of their distant welcomes. We know more about what is going on then he does. I won’t spoil what they know that he doesn’t, but let’s just say it’s the sort of secret you don’t keep from your father. But then, as Frank laminates, the kids were always more open with their mother then with him. At one point he figures it’s because he’s a good talker and she was a good listener. Still, secrets are not something you can build a strong foundation on, and there’s still the question of why he wasn’t about to track down his youngest son David. The movie deals with several themes that are universal. The theme of secrets, pressure, death, and isolation. De Niro is excellent in conveying his disappointments through quiet, calm facial expressions.
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The rest of the cast are also solid. This is not a very complicated movie though. Never are you likely to ever be lost in this film. Come to think of it, there isn’t much chance you being surprised by any story twist in this film. For all the praise I’ve heaped on this it’s a formula movie. But it’s a good one. The acting is the crucial reason why this movie is elevated above most movies of this type, and de Niro deserves an Oscar nomination for his nuisance performance in this film. This is one of those movies that don’t challenge you very much, but it’s easy enough to digest and good enough as it is that it’s one you’ll likely watch more times then whatever won Best Picture last year (for the record, it was “Slumdog Millionaire”).
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