Hey, everyone. Capone in Chicago here.
This remake of a little-seen 1990 Italian gem of the same name from director Giuseppe Tornatore (it was the film he made right after the Oscar-winning CINEMA PARADISO) is one of the all-too-rare works that takes a fairly formulaic plot and elevates it thanks to quality actors doing across-the-board terrific jobs, turning what could have been Schmaltz Central into a film of some substance. And for God's sake whatever you do, ignore the commercials and print ads that paint EVERYBODY'S FINE as a cutesy holiday family film. Yes, this is a story about a family and there is a glimpse of a holiday celebration at one point during the movie, but this is by no means the type of cheesy holiday junk we get around this time of year.
British director Kirk Jones (WAKING NED DEVINCE, NANNY MCPHEE) has taken this simple story about an aging man whose four grown children are scattered across the country and always seem to have excuses not to have time to talk to him on the phone, let alone visit him. In a beautifully subtle performance, Robert De Niro plays patriarch Frank (Marcello Mastroianni had the role in the original), a fairly recent widower who decides, after yet another mass cancelation by his offspring just days before a planned reunion, that he's going to take a spontaneous road trip against his doctor's orders. What we learn early on is that his children are in constant communication and that they are hiding something very important from Frank concerning the youngest, a New York artist named David, whom Frank goes to visit first. Frank wants to surprise his children, but after a failed attempt to visit David, he heads to his oldest daughter Amy (Kate Beckinsale), a successful ad exec, and she immediately lights up the switchboard to the other two to let them know dad is on the way.
Our second discovery is that Frank's kids lie to him a lot, whereas they used to share everything with their mother. As De Niro goes from place to place, we learn a little bit more about the way he raised his children and the pressures he put on them to succeed. He was one of the those working-class fathers who sacrificed everything to make sure his family was secure and had all the advantages that he didn't, without realizing that the thing he was sacrificing the most was a relationship with the very people he wanted to take care of. The film has a great deal to say and let us contemplate concerning family and the white lies we tell each other to get through the day with as little conflict as possible. Most of the lies Frank's children tell are in the name of not disappointing this man who always had the highest dreams and expectations for his kids. His oldest boy Robert (Sam Rockwell) led Frank to believe he conducted an orchestra, when in fact he plays percussion in one. His youngest daughter, Rosie (Drew Barrymore), lies about getting work in Las Vegas shows and even the spacious apartment she lives in.
What's more fascinating is that when Frank comes face to face with these untruths, he sees right through them. He spots all the little signs and knows exactly which facts are lies, and he's right every time. But this isn't the De Niro we've seen of late in the MEET THE PARENTS franchise who possesses no shades of gray or patience of any kind. Frank is a kind, slightly desperate man who sees that some of his children are in trouble and knows that he possesses a lifetime of experience that might help his struggling kids. In one scene near the end of the film that has no business working as well as it does, De Niro is having a dream set at a backyard picnic table where we see all of the family as children, but they are speaking the words of adults with a lifetime of trying to live up to dad's example and expectations. It's a sad and melancholy sequence that works because it's saturated with the truth. There are moments in EVERYBODY'S FINE that ring so true it's a bit unnerving.
And so De Niro's Frank does his version of PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES without the jokes, and it still manages to work. I think my favorite of Frank's visit is with Rockwell's character, who seems the most bitter about his father being there at all. The barely contained tension between them is enough to fuel an entire movie, and Rockwell is such a great actor that to see him conquer a character so "normal" is a bit of a kick. I also had fun watching De Niro chat with some strong supporting players that he runs into on his journey, including Melissa Leo (FROZEN RIVER) as a truck driver who gives Frank a lift at one point. EVERYBODY'S FINE is a simple, quiet gift in theaters right now. There are no special effects, no big dramatic moments, no dumbed-down instances of lame humor. No, this is one of the good ones--a deceptively easy story punctuated and brought to life with great acting and solid, steady direction. No one was more surprised than me at how much I became engrossed in the lives of this family. Every so often, a meat-and-potatoes movie feels more like a gourmet dish. Do not miss this.
-- Capone
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