Everybody's Fine
Emotional rollercoaster that's better than fine
Review
It is entirely possible that Americans, with all their media stereotypes, have painted themselves into an unimaginative corner. American families are always so sickeningly moral and functional. Even the messed up ones resolve their issues, cure their difficult siblings of mental illnesses, nurse their obnoxious dying fathers, forgive each other for sleeping with their second cousins. Where could a family like the Brady Bunch ever actually get on? Only in America.
Well, Itchy are sick of it. We want realism. Maybe not to the point of Eastenders' sisters turning out to be mothers, but some kind of believable family dynamic on our screens would be lovely. Which is why we were so refreshed by Everybody's Fine. Based on an Italian film from 1990, it follows the widower Frank Goode (Robert DeNiro) as he tries to reunite his family. He visits each of his four children, with varying degrees of success, but learns far more about them than he thought he would, particularly that they have been sparing him the cold hard truth for some time.
As a fairly large-scale comedy drama with an all-star cast that will no doubt draw in the punters, we had imagined that Everybody's Fine would be the usual sentimental twoddle with a weak attempt at comedy and a tear-jerking ending. Well, sentimental it was, but in just the right ways, as it was near impossible to feel cold towards these flawed characters, somehow. In fact, flawed is not what they are. They are normal. If we must be honest with you, Itchy cried like a baby.
Thankfully there are plenty of amusing moments to help keep the film on the gentler side of emotionally draining. Drew Barrymore is utterly charming (as always) as Rosie, a ”dancer“ in Vegas, and there are some wonderful cameo comedy characters such as the bitter old gents in a 24hr diner in New York, and the advertising upstarts pitching to Amy (Kate Beckinsale). We were unconvinced by the use of children in Frank's visions – it felt inappropriate and tacky in an otherwise refreshingly natural film, but hey, you can't win 'em all, and Everybody's Fine wins most of 'em.
Ashleigh Arnott
As a fairly large-scale comedy drama with an all-star cast that will no doubt draw in the punters, we had imagined that Everybody's Fine would be the usual sentimental twoddle with a weak attempt at comedy and a tear-jerking ending. Well, sentimental it was, but in just the right ways, as it was near impossible to feel cold towards these flawed characters, somehow. In fact, flawed is not what they are. They are normal. If we must be honest with you, Itchy cried like a baby.
Thankfully there are plenty of amusing moments to help keep the film on the gentler side of emotionally draining. Drew Barrymore is utterly charming (as always) as Rosie, a ”dancer“ in Vegas, and there are some wonderful cameo comedy characters such as the bitter old gents in a 24hr diner in New York, and the advertising upstarts pitching to Amy (Kate Beckinsale). We were unconvinced by the use of children in Frank's visions – it felt inappropriate and tacky in an otherwise refreshingly natural film, but hey, you can't win 'em all, and Everybody's Fine wins most of 'em.
Ashleigh Arnott
