A Review of Everybody's Fine

This movie got panned by critics overseas, and was largely ignored by South Africans but for the life of me I can’t work out why. Its critics lambasted it for being overly sentimental and having a too-obvious plot with poor character development, and while I can appreciate the validity of these criticisms, I would still maintain the strengths far outweigh the weaknesses.

Everybody’s Fine is a remake of an Italian movie, and is a heartfelt, sad and yet ultimately redeeming comedy-drama. Robert De Niro is superb as Frank, a recently widowed father of four who sets out on a road trip to reconnect with his children. His life as a blue collar worker (he painted pvc onto phone lines) has led to him suffering from a debilitation of the lungs. However, the sacrificial labours of his life were gladly offered because he was so determined to provide for his family and allow his children to succeed. Although his medical condition prevents him from flying, Frank’s disappointment that all four children cancelled on a family visit leads to him braving the bus and rail networks of the U.S.

The double play of Frank’s work with telephone wires and his lack of connection with his children is used throughout. Everybody’s Fine tries hard to use visual ‘cinema noveau’ moments to promote its message, and I think these can be appreciated more often than not. Frank’s surprise visits are not well received by his children at all, and his journey really ‘surprises’ everyone because he finds his children are not nearly as successful as he was led to believe. It seems that the pressure of his own hard work in providing for them, as well as his constant admonishments for them to succeed, has resulted in each of them deeply fearing letting him down. This pressure created a fundamental lack of connection with Frank because each and every single one of them was led to lie to him in some way about their work or lifestyle.

This is exactly where the movie packs a serious punch ... in its message. For as Frank seeks to take on his late wife’s role of keeping the children together, they all discover uncomfortable truths about themselves. Frank realises that only providing for his family as a father is not enough, but that they also need his affirmation and acceptance as well. He realises that all he really wants for them is not success but happiness – to be more fully themselves and to be content and find meaning in their work and relationships.

Anyone who has been brought up in the home of a ‘baby-boomer’ would appreciate this movie. So many today have similarly strained relationships with their fathers where the pressure to be successful has sometimes caused intense disharmony. More than this so many have experienced fathers who have been good providers, but perhaps have not been emotionally (or spiritually) available to mentor, love and guide. Everybody’s Fine is extremely relevant in this regard.

A great moment of loss is experienced towards the end of the movie, which ultimately forces the family to draw closer together in love and support. Everybody’s Fine is sad, funny, touching and deeply redemptive. It might get a little soppy, and the characters of the children might be a little weak, but De Niro’s acting and the strong realism of the relationships means that the overall message is empathically carried.

It is the kind of movie which makes you want to call up your own parents, or gather up your children in your arms and hug them, and if this is the only reminder you carry away with you then it is well worth it. Although the ending is perhaps a little too neat, it is still an excellent reminder that if we truly seek to engage with our loved ones without forcing our own personal agendas on them, then love can win through even a lifetime of mistakes.