Everybody's Fine

How about - Everybody’s Crying?? For a movie whose trailer features a series of touching, funny moments; Everybody’s Fine will take you by surprise. Okay, maybe we laughed a few times. But we laughed through tears that started rolling in the first 5 minutes and continued through the credits, out the door, and into a birthday lunch. Seriously, I think we all cried more in Everybody’s Fine than we did in Precious – and that was a tragic tale.

Everybody’s Fine is written and directed by Kirk Davis (who also wrote and directed Nanny McPhee) . Robert DeNiro portrays Frank Goode, a widower who decides to surprise each of his four grown kids after they all cancel a visit to see him. One by one, as he arrives unannounced on each doorstep, his unprepared children have no choice but to reveal the reality of their lives. He soon realizes that his wife, their mother, had spoon fed him only the good news over the years and spared him the true details of each child’s challenges. He had never really truly known and accepted each of them for who they were. He had high expectations for their lives and as they grew older, they didn’t want to disappoint him with the truth that they had not quite reached the heights he had set. Now it’s his turn to learn the truth and love them in spite of it.

Though believable as it is, watching it on the big screen is tough. What begins as a movie ends in a wake-up call for all parents. Accept our kids for who they are. Accept the truth and the real relationship will follow. It is a fine line between encouraging a child to reach for tall heights and setting them up to succeed for your benefit instead of their own. Sometimes we push and we don’t want to see that they are struggling. Often, children are afraid to disappoint their parents.

We didn’t see any of the actors as real standouts. Drew Barrymore was good as daughter Rosy. Kate Beckinsdale was believable as daughter Amy. Sam Rockwell was reasonable as son Robert. Not to mention a different and somber side to the Robert DeNiro we all know.

I think Davis’ story of Frank’s journey was much more important than the people involved in that story. Less developed characters allowed the viewer to put him/herself into the story line very easily and feel fully the impact that Frank felt as a parent. If that was his intention – he was successful. The evidence was the sound of multiple sniffles and nose blowing throughout the entire film.

A Rave Review rated this film 2 out of 5.