Everybody’s Fine appears to be this holiday comedy that the whole family can enjoy without having to think too much. Well the previews make this film look like that, but it’s far from it. It does have some funny parts, but this is mainly a drama about family and reconnecting with them. It is emotional and may bring a tear to your eye. You have been warned.
Robert De Niro plays Frank, a husband who lost his wife over six months ago and a father who has lost touch with his kids. Amy (Kate Beckinsale), Rosie (Drew Barrymore), Robert (Sam Rockwell), and David (Austin Lysy) are all living their own lives, but the life they are living is different from the life Frank thinks they are living.
The film opens with Frank cleaning the house, buying a grill and some nice wine for all of his kids who are coming over to visit. All he wants is to have his children all at one table for the holidays. But after a phone call and a couple of messages, those plans fall through and no one can make it. So Frank decides to take a trip across the country, a trip his doctor does not agree with, and surprise his kids.
As Frank travels around, he starts to notice some flaws in his kids’ lives and that they haven’t been telling him the truth about what is going on. They could tell their mother anything and their mother would tell their father what he wanted to hear even if it was not the truth. A trip that was meant to surprise his kids ends up surprising Frank a lot more.
The film is very good at dissecting this family and revealing the lies that surround them. And maybe these lies were told with the best intentions, and Frank has never been a great listener. But while he gets a glimpse of the problems in his kids’ lives, he starts to notice the problems within himself. Perhaps he pushed his kids too much or maybe he should have been there more for them. Frank is a proud father, but perhaps he showed it the wrong way. Either way, it’s never too late to become a family again. This is the message of this film and it is told in a brilliant and tragic way.
De Niro is fantastic as Frank. A father who loves his kids, but feels lost without his wife. Frank begins this confrontation with the problems that have been going on in his family yet has never noticed before. Barrymore, Rockwell, and Beckinsale are all good as Frank’s kids, but De Niro’s performance shines brightest and it is nice to see a performance like this from him. I was a little worried after movies like Hide and Seek, Godsend, and most recently, Righteous Kill. However, he brings the most heart and passion to this story and film.
Everybody’s Fine is about change and truth. We all have heard about the truth and how it may hurt. This applies to this film. The truth may hurt, but it is best to know it and move on than never knowing and living a lie. By the end, this film goes down the path you thought it would. But the journey these characters take to get there is the real ride. Though it may have been a rough one, family have to stick together, right?
“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter@SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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