Everybody's Fine

You've been there and so have I. Someone asks, "How's the family?" "Everybody's Fine." Why go into it? But what happens when your parents ask? How much do you tell? You will also be more likely to tell your Mother than your Dad. Why is that? Oh, don't bother DAD.

The movie, "Everybody's Fine" starring Robert DeNiro examines that family tradition. The movie starts with DeNiro's character, a widower for the last 8 months, inviting his four grown kids for a weekend at the family home. One by one they call and leave messages (lame messages) that they can't come. He decides to surprise them by going to New York, Chicago, Denver, and Las Vegas for a visit. At this point your thinking, awkward family holiday comedy. You would be wrong.

Yes, he is a duck out of water and there is some amusement along the way, but this slowly gathers into a storm of an ending.

This movie deals with an all too common fact. His wife knew everything about the kids, and any problems were hidden from old DAD. Let's not disappoint old Dad.

Now Dad is on his own and finds that his kids are hiding their lives from him. His was not disinterested, he was just busy with work. Early on in their lives, he preached doing their best and make dad proud. They decided that they could not meet his expectations and chose to avoid him (without knowing HIS true feelings.)

This is a good movie for dads. It was a hard movie for me. I choked up more than once and at one point, I was on the verge of crying. Not trying to drive you macho guys away, but you need to see this.

As a Dad, the decision between advice and interference is sometimes very hard. We don't speak when we should and occasionally speak when we shouldn't. This is why we don't tell others how to raise kids. I was raised by a good dad who worked night and day and didn't say a lot, unless asked and then it was to the point. That was my role model. So this movie grabbed me in a big way.

DeNiro starts the movie and you think this is an easy movie for such an acclaimed actor, but as the story unfolds, you sees his value. I really like this.

I give it ****stars.

Added feature: Paul McCartney wrote and sings the title song at the end during credits. he wrote it for the movie after watching the story and being moved by it. Another great job!

2009 Movie #78