Jeff Beck Reviews: Everybody’s Fine
Frank Goode (Robert De Niro) is man who doesn’t have that much left in his life, other than his four grown children who are now dispersed across the country. He is now retired and is also a recent widower having lost his wife eight months earlier from a cause that is never explained. Now comes the big day when his four children are scheduled to visit him at the old house where they can once again be together around the same table.
Frank goes about making sure every little thing is perfect for when they arrive. He vacuums the floors, gets the best steaks and wine he can find. Then comes word from each of his kids, one by one, that they won’t be able to make it that weekend due to one thing or another. Determined to see his kids, Frank takes it upon himself to travel across the country to visit each of them, despite having a heart condition causing him to skip any flying. So he packs a small travel case and sets off on buses and trains for his cross-country trip.
“Everybody’s Fine” becomes an interesting sort of road film as we watch Frank travel from one person to another in an attempt to rebond with them. There had been a disconnect between him and the kids ever since their mother passed away, which is one of the main reasons that he is very anxious to get back together with them. As with many road films, there is plenty of landscape to be seen, and this one is no different.
The plotline was very reminiscent of Yasujiro Ozu’s “Tokyo Story,” a film about parents who go to visit their children, who turn out to be far too busy in their own daily lives to pay much attention to them. I won’t go on to say what happens, because it follows a very similar path with a few changes. What ends up breathing fresh air into “Everybody’s Fine” is its fine cast.
Robert De Niro is hard to beat when it comes to leading roles. This is probably the quietest performance that he’s given in his entire career. No action scenes, no guns, and very little swearing. It’s a delicate performance that De Niro gives the perfect pitch to.
The supporting cast is one of the main reasons that this film was a delight to watch. Frank first tries to visit his son David in New York City, but finds him not at home. From there, he visits his daughter Amy (Kate Beckinsale), who is an advertising agent in Chicago. She lives with her son, Jack (Lucian Maisel), and husband, Jeff (Damian Young). However, in one of many discoveries he makes on this journey, he finds out that not all is well in Amy’s life.
He then visits his other son, Robert (Sam Rockwell), a percussionist for an orchestra. Frank had always been under the impression that Robert was a conductor and is surprised to find him merely banging a drum. Like Amy, Robert tells Frank that he is too busy to spend time with him at the moment, in a sense, passing him onto the next and final sibling, Rosie (Drew Barrymore).
Rosie lives in an upscale apartment that impresses Frank very much. She is the most receptive of his kids that he’s visited and actually wanted to go out to dinner with him to a revolving restaurant. This is all going well until he makes yet more discoveries, this time regarding her life. His children aren’t exactly truthful with him about some things, especially about why he can’t seem to get a hold of David. The situation with David is hinted at throughout the film, but kept, for the most part, a mystery from Frank, who merely has suspicions to go on.
A film like this could have easily strayed into being really sappy when it comes to the emotional side of it. However, it manages to stay out of the sappy territory by knowing when to tone down the emotional element of the film. It certainly comes close to it, especially near the end, but does a good job of holding back.
Speaking of the end, the third act did have a few problems with meandering among all the realizations that Frank makes, but it manages to get back on track before too long, wrapping up with a predictable, yet appropriate ending. This meandering did bring it down a bit, but the excellent cast makes up for it quite nicely. Even though you’ll probably be able to tell where it’s going before too long, the film still turns out to be just fine.
3/4 stars.
You can also read this and other movie reviews in my column at The Richmond Examiner.
Related Posts:
