Review: "Everybody's Fine"

Seen on: November 30, 2009

The players: Director: Kirk Jones, Writer: Kirk Jones, Cast: Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell

Facts of interest: Kirk Jones also directed "Nanny McPhee."

The plot: A widower decides to embark on a journey to visit his busy children.

Our thoughts: The troubled characters in “Everybody’s Fine” are all okay by the end of the movie, but their road to happiness sure is a tedious one. No, I really didn’t enjoy Kirk Jones’ latest family drama, and one of the reasons why I couldn’t connect with it is the film’s predictability and lack of a sophisticated story line.

Robert De Niro stars as Frank Goode, a recent widower who’s utterly excited about spending a weekend with his four kids, who all lead busy lives away from home. Unfortunately for him, they all end up cancelling at the last minute, which prompts him to pack his bags and head across the country to pay them a surprise visit.

Against his doctor’s orders, Frank travels from his home to New York, Chicago, Denver and Las Vegas to reconnect with his children and get a glimpse of their lives, but soon enough he realizes things aren’t what he expected. One of his sons is untraceable, and the rest of his children all act quite fairly strange in front of him.

“Everybody’s Fine” makes the case that truthfulness is the basis for healthy family relationships, and while there is some certain truth to the messages Jones tries to convey in this film, I found it quite boring to watch his banal characters overcome their problems and finally come together as one family again.

The main problem here is that Frank’s journey across the country is incredibly flat. Each of his four visits plays out exactly the same, and all of his children have personal troubles they just don’t want to share with them. He shows up at their door, they act weird, they gently push him out of the house, and he moves on…

That’s what goes on for most of the time, until the final 20 or so minutes go all melodramatic on us. It really seems like Jones pushed for big drama in the end because he realized most of the movie is just too superficial and uninteresting. There is quite simply nothing really compelling about Frank’s trip.

This is all very unfortunate, because “Everybody’s Fine” boasts a great cast. De Niro actually delivers an honest performance as the lonely dad who just wants to have his kids join him for a nice dinner, and Drew Barrymore acts all cute and authentic as one of his daughters. Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale do well too.

Solid actors don’t save this film though, and they sure can’t make up for the dragging plot. Jones sure created some interesting characters here, but he never gives them the chance to surprise us cinemagoers. Frank is probably the most developed character in the movie, but he’s a tad too predictable as well.

Freaky quote: "You wanna see mine?" - Robert De Niro

The final word: Nobody knows their kids better than a good father or mother, and no kid can really fool a good father or mother. That’s one of the central themes of the “Everybody’s Fine,” and while all of it sure is true, it’s just not sold to us in an interesting enough way. My take on this one: you can skip it without feeling bad.

Article by Franck Tabouring