Since a child I have been a fan of Robert De Niro. I watched movies that I shouldn’t have watched. I sat through Taxi Driver and Once Upon a time in America in one afternoon, back to back. I was blown away by what I saw on screen. From Raging Bull to Goodfella’s, De Niro has been a tour de force of performance. And then, at some point it went, well not wrong, but there was a huge about turn in his career. One of the original method actors started doing comedy and he was far removed from The King of Comedy. So for years I sat through De Niro film after De Niro film wondering what was going on. He had he lost his mind doing all of these comedies? Was it almost like a career break for him? Who knows? all I know is the De Niro I grew up with, the one who put in mind blowing performances is on the road back to greatness, if Everybody’s Fine is anything to go by.
Starring Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and the wonderful Sam Rockwell, Everybody’s Fine tells the story of a recently widowed Frank Goode (De Niro) who realises his wife had much more of a connection with his kids than he ever had. Each year, he has a little reunion, but this time round, all the kids cancel on him one after the other with some lacklustre excuse. So he sets off on a Road trip to reunite with his kids, one by one. Upon arrival,His kids portray that all is rosy in the garden, but it’s far from it. One of the siblings, David, is in trouble in Mexico for drug related issues. Through out the story Frank realises that all isn’t above board and his kids are lying to him.
Everybody’s Fine is a movie that you will either love or hate. There is no middle ground. It’s far removed from it’s comedic values that the trailer portrays, but has a couple of great one liners to lighten the load. This isn’t your typical road movie, and whilst its pace is solid, it can be a bit slow moving and dark at times. For me though, I loved it. The story is almost magical as when Frank reunites with each child, he see’s them, not as adults, but as children.
Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale and Drew Barrymore all put in solid performances here. They don’t have oodles of screen time, as the movie cuts back and forth to all of them, but when they are on screen they are quite convincing! But for me, Robert De Niro, who carries the movie, is simply superb. Its a return to form for Bob and it is quite an intense performance. So convincing is De Niro’s performance that it reduced me to tears on a number of occasions and that is testament to him, but also director Kirk Jones who tugs on the heart strings in all the right places. Everybody’s Fine is a sweet, albeit small move. It has solid performances and a huge return to form for De Niro. Definitely worth a watch, but bring the tissues!
You can also catch me chatting to the director, Kirk Jones this Sunday night on Corks RedFM – www.redfm.ie
Starring Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and the wonderful Sam Rockwell, Everybody’s Fine tells the story of a recently widowed Frank Goode (De Niro) who realises his wife had much more of a connection with his kids than he ever had. Each year, he has a little reunion, but this time round, all the kids cancel on him one after the other with some lacklustre excuse. So he sets off on a Road trip to reunite with his kids, one by one. Upon arrival,His kids portray that all is rosy in the garden, but it’s far from it. One of the siblings, David, is in trouble in Mexico for drug related issues. Through out the story Frank realises that all isn’t above board and his kids are lying to him.
Everybody’s Fine is a movie that you will either love or hate. There is no middle ground. It’s far removed from it’s comedic values that the trailer portrays, but has a couple of great one liners to lighten the load. This isn’t your typical road movie, and whilst its pace is solid, it can be a bit slow moving and dark at times. For me though, I loved it. The story is almost magical as when Frank reunites with each child, he see’s them, not as adults, but as children.
Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale and Drew Barrymore all put in solid performances here. They don’t have oodles of screen time, as the movie cuts back and forth to all of them, but when they are on screen they are quite convincing! But for me, Robert De Niro, who carries the movie, is simply superb. Its a return to form for Bob and it is quite an intense performance. So convincing is De Niro’s performance that it reduced me to tears on a number of occasions and that is testament to him, but also director Kirk Jones who tugs on the heart strings in all the right places. Everybody’s Fine is a sweet, albeit small move. It has solid performances and a huge return to form for De Niro. Definitely worth a watch, but bring the tissues!
You can also catch me chatting to the director, Kirk Jones this Sunday night on Corks RedFM – www.redfm.ie
