Everybody's Fine (2009) review

(5/10)

Besides the performance by Robert De Niro, there's nothing really memorable about this movie. It's not bad, but there's just nothing significant about it.

PLOT:Frank (Robert De Niro) is the father of four kids: Amy (Kate Beckinsale), Rosie (Drew Barrymore), Robert (Sam Rockwell), and David. Each one has grown up, moved on, and seemingly hit it big somewhere. When the mother of the family dies, Frank tries to bring everybody together this holiday season like it used to be, but everybody seems busy. However, Frank decides to see them anyway by packing up on a cross-country trip to see each one, but it's not all peaceful among them. Each has their set of problems, especially David, who's apparently vanished off the face of the Earth. Will his kids reunite with him truthfully and reveal their secrets? It's a great plot executed pretty blandly.



ACTING:Robert De Niro was almost the saving grace of this movie. He played a nice, calm, heartfelt role as the old father, Frank. He played the role the best that he could based on what he was given. The other shiners were Drew Barrymore as Rosie, Kate Beckinsale as Amy, and Sam Rockwell as Robert. They went with the flow of the movie, but they weren't horrible.

SCORE:The score was mainly composed of some random, mood-fitting songs of alternative and classic pop. It was pretty cool.



OTHER CONTENT:This movie could have been so much better than it really was, but it just fell flat. The writers of the story and script didn't add enough moments of interest so it felt as if nothing happened for most of the movie. The humor and dramatic moments also felt out-of-place since they only came around a few times; it seemed uneven. They could have taken this idea and skyrocketed it with a more eventful and even plot, but they lived on a careful performance by De Niro and didn't try to make this one break the formula. However, it's not terrible. There isn't a lot of bad aspects to it; it's just bland.

OVERALL,a mediocre movie with a blandly-executed plot, decent acting, cool soundtrack, uneventfulness, uneven plot twists, and a bland formula, but it's not a terrible movie.