Everybody's Fine (2009 film)

Everybody's Fine
Directed by Kirk Jones
Produced by
Written by Kirk Jones
Starring
Music by Dario Marianelli
Cinematography Henry Braham
Edited by Andrew Mondshein
Distributed by Miramax Films
Release dates
  • December 4, 2009
Running time
 99 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $21 million[1]
Box office $15,986,449[1]

Everybody's Fine is a 2009 American drama film written and directed by Kirk Jones, and starring Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Sam Rockwell, and Kate Beckinsale. It is a remake of the Giuseppe Tornatore's Italian film Stanno tutti bene. In Brazil, Russia and Japan, the film was released direct-to-DVD.

Plot

Frank Goode (Robert De Niro), a recently widowed retiree, is getting ready for his children, David (Austin Lysy), Rosie (Drew Barrymore), Amy (Kate Beckinsale) and Robert (Sam Rockwell) to come visit him. One by one though, each of his children call to cancel on him at the last minute. Feeling a bit down by the rejections, Frank decides to head out on a cross-country trip, visiting each of his kids, despite warnings against travel from his doctor. He is chronically ill with cardiac and respiratory problems from his life work making PVC-covered power lines. He deceives his children about his health, telling them that he is fine.

As Frank travels to each of his children's homes, beginning with his son David who is absent from his New York apartment, his other son and daughters divert his surprise visits and make excuses for not allowing him a lengthy visit. He begins to suspect that something is amiss.

Frank heads home to Elmira, New York, by plane and suffers a heart attack. The heart attack renders him in a dream-like state where he reflects on his visits to his children. While reflecting upon his visits, Frank realizes that each of his children is hiding a secret: Amy's husband is leaving her for another woman and Amy has found a new boyfriend; Robert is not a musical conductor nor is he going on tour to Europe; Rosie has mothered a child and is bisexual; David has gone missing. He awakes to find his children at the hospital to comfort him. His children finally tell him the big secret that David has died of a drug overdose. Upon his release from the hospital, Frank visits his wife's grave and talks to her. He tells her all about the kids and how they're all doing fine. The final scene depicts Frank as he loves and accepts his children (including their secrets).

Cast

Production

Filming took place in Connecticut[2] and New York City, including several scenes filmed at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Scenes set in a concert hall were filmed at Yale University's Woolsey Hall, and featured the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.

Reception

Critical reaction

The film received mixed reviews from film critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 47% based on reviews from 130 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 5.3 out of 10. The site's general consensus is that "A calm, charismatic performance from Robert De Niro nearly saves the movie, but ultimately, Everybody's Fine has the look and feel of a stereotypical Christmas dramedy."[3] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from film critics, the film is considered to have "mixed or average reviews", with a rating score of 47 based on 25 reviews.[4]

Michael Medved gave Everybody's Fine two stars (out of four), calling the film "...bleak, deeply depressive, and utterly depressing..." But he also added that "DeNiro's acting is intense and moving as always."[5]

Overall, the critic's consensus praises Robert De Niro for having "intensity and presence that shines through even when he's not playing Travis Bickle/Jake LaMotta types, "but the movie becomes overly sentimental, and the supporting players aren't given three-dimensional characters to play."[6]

Box office

The film "unspooled in 10th [place] with $4 million."[7] As of December 6, the film has grossed $4,027,000.[1] It closed on December 24, 2009 after a brief three-week run.

Awards

Everybody's Fine was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Wide Release. Drew Barrymore will also receive the Vanguard Award at the 21st GLAAD Media Awards ceremony, in part due to her performance in the film.[8][9]

Soundtrack

Paul McCartney wrote the ballad "(I Want To) Come Home" for the movie after seeing an advance screening. Though he wrote the song from the perspective of De Niro's character, afterwards, he realized it could also be heard from the adult children's view.[10] It led to a Golden Globe nomination for Best Song.

Home media

Everybody's Fine was released on DVD February 23, 2010.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Everybody's Fine (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 3, 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Michael Fleming (2008-04-07). "De Niro, Barrymore top 'Fine' cast". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
  3. ↑ "Everybody's Fine (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Everybody's Fine (2009): Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved December 25, 2009.
  5. ↑ http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Medved/mp3/Everybodys_Fine.mp3
  6. ↑ Ryan, Tim (2009-11-03). "Critics Consensus: Everybody's Fine Is Just OK". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  7. ↑ DiOrio, Carl (2009-12-06). "'Blind Side' tops 'New Moon' at boxoffice". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  8. ↑ Wilson, Gemma (February 19, 2010). "Cruz to Co-host Los Angeles GLAAD Media Awards". Playbill. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
  9. ↑ "21st Annual GLAAD Media Awards – English Language Nominees". Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
  10. ↑ (I Want to) Come Home Songfacts

External links