February 17, 2010
Widower Frank Goode (Robert De Niro) is planning a rare homecoming for his four grown up kids. One by one they all cry off - too busy, too complicated. Disappointed but undeterred, Frank plans a journey across America to surprise each one of them. It soon emerges that his wife only ever told him what he wanted to hear: "everybody's fine". A trip of a life-time becomes a late life-lesson as Frank reconnects with his family.
Thoroughly engaging, Everybody's Fine steals up on you. Beautifully downplayed by a quality cast, it skips the schmaltz and tingles with recognisably real scenarios. De Niro delivers a masterfully nuanced screen performance, so subtle he'll hardly get the Oscar he deserves. He's everyone's dad or grandad: unaware he's boring his fellow passengers, unable to find the hidden handle on his suitcase.
Everybody's Fine benefits from its quirky structure. Each vignette, as De Niro travels from one kid to another, yields a fresh, full-drawn story. Beckinsale is a seemingly successful woman with a stylish home and a young family. Barrymore's an actress who babysits for her friends. And Sam Rockwell is a musician with a prestigious orchestra. But are they happy? And as for the fourth child, why doesn't he return his Dad's calls?
Deftly written, reality bites. British director Kirk Jones brings a silky touch that wrings every ounce of effect. Poetic flourishes see the kids, returned to childhood, through Frank's eyes. A scintillating conceit, sparingly used, it works a treat, upping the emotional ante. Off-kilter, Everybody's Fine treads potentially trite set-ups with elegant élan. Beautifully shot, the visual palette exudes a classiness that complements De Niro's own.
Like Danny Boyle's emotional rollercoaster Slumdog Millionaire, this film has its own peculiar joie de vivre and its own dark corners. Guaranteed to have audiences, if not phoning a friend, then certainly phoning home to check up on Dad, it's an infectious, affecting experience. And Kirk Jones' slightly surreal touches, like those which animated Slumdog, add depth and impact. A rewrite of Italian movie, Stanno Tutti Bene (1990), it's a fresh and original film in its own right.
Unashamedly symbolic, it's still grounded in the everyday and is doubly enjoyable as a result. Fixing a barbecue in the near-dark, Goode is reduced to waving at his outside security light every few seconds: it's physical comedy from a knowing performer. A retired communication engineer responsible for erecting telegraph wires across America, Frank comes to see the irony: his work kept people in touch with their loved ones, while he receded from his.
Poignantly played, Everybody's Fine is a perfect compendium of comedy and drama. Unlike escapist movies, though, this'll stay with you, bringing your life and relationships tumbling into the cinema. Twinges of regret, warm memories and a commitment to reconnect with your own relations are all guaranteed. So too are laugh out loud moments and chuckles of recognition.
An It's a Wonderful Life for the real world, Everybody's Fine conjures an otherworld of emotional truth - tragi-comic, uplifting and quietly life-changing. Quality entertainment, then, as organic as the concept and characters on show.