December 14, 2009 -- “Everybody's Fine” is a bittersweet family road film about a man trying to forge new connections to his children and grandchildren in the wake of his wife's death. His children have fed him misinformation over the years, by way of his wife, giving him rosy versions of their lives. He is about to discover the truth, which is not so rosy, but it isn't so bad, either, most of the time. In large part, this is a film about a man's dreams for the happiness and success of his children. While the coverup engineered by his children boarders on the absurd, it does make for an interesting story. The story is based on the 1990 Italian film “Stanno Tutti Bene,” written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore.

The film opens with widower Frank Goode (played by award-winning actor Robert De Niro) preparing a large family dinner for his children, who are coming to visit. One by one, however, they call to say they can't come. Fed up with this situation, Frank decides he will visit them, despite his poor health and his fear of flying. He ends up taking trains, buses and a truck to the far flung corners of the country where his children live. His first visit to his son David, a New York artist, (played by Austin Lysy). David is not at home, so he travels on to visit his other son, Robert (Sam Rockwell of “Moon”). He finds out that Robert is playing with a symphony orchestra in Denver, but is not the conductor. Instead, he plays kettle drums. Robert thinks his father is disappointed in him. Frank says he is not disappointed in his son, who seems to have a career he enjoys.

Frank is forced to quickly depart for his next destination, that of his daughter, Amy (Kate Beckinsale of “Snow Angels”), who lives in a fabulous house in Chicago with her son, Jack (Lucian Maisel), and husband, Jeff (Damian Young). Everything seems fine, at first, but Frank notices that Jack doesn't respect Jeff at all and everyone makes excuses for not sticking around, so Frank is forced to leave quickly again. This time he heads to Las Vegas to visit his other daughter, Rosie (Drew Barrymore of “Whip It”). Rosie lives in a very nice apartment, but Frank finds out it isn't her apartment. Rosie plans to take Frank out on the town, but is stuck babysitting. Frank has suspicions about this development too. After a confrontation with a mugger, Frank loses his medicine and is forced to fly back home, where the family finally gets together and he finally learns the truth about everyone. It turns out, though that Frank had figured out a lot of the truth all by himself.

Except for the ridiculous lengths his children go to in their attempts to hide the truth from their father, this is a fairly believable movie. In a couple of places there is a bit of melodrama thrown in, but nothing too far out. As the central character, Robert De Niro carries this film, and he gives a marvelous performance. He creates a character that many people should be able to identify with. Frank used to make insulation for telephone wires. Telephone wires are seen often in the film, reminding the viewer that a failure to communicate is at the heart of this story. This film rates a B.

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Copyright © 2009 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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