Product: Everybody's Fine (2009)
Rating: 5.0
Beautiful, Meaningful, Sad & Ultimately Heart-Touching!!
What can I say about Robert DeNiro that we don't already know....In addition to playing some of the most iconic characters of the last 35 yrs in film,he is in the upper echelon of the greatest actors ever to do it!He has proven this fact even more in the last 15 yrs, where he has added to hisreportoire of serious & menacing tough guy roles, sharply comedic and deeply emotionalones as well in which he has proven to be quite effective.This movie "Everybody's Fine" is an emotional tour de force!Deniro plays an aging father who is recently widowed and counting his own last days asan undisclosed disease slowly ravages his body. He finds himself lonely and trying to keepup the good front as he struggles from day to day just with the mundane tasks of life.His only solace comes in the memories he has of his children, all grown now and living theirown lives in different cities across the country.When he invites them all home for a cookout/family reunion, he is disappointedwhen they all find reasons to cancel one by one because their busy schedules.What DeNiro's character finds is that in his zeal to see his kids do well in life,he has in fact pushed them all so hard that they feel alienated from him.They all found it much more easier to communicate with their deceased mother,who, like a lot of mothers, handled the affairs of her children's lives as wellher own with seemingly effortless ease. She never shared any bad news with her husband(their father) regarding the struggles of their kids lives, inadvertently helpingto foster the very detached emotional environment he finds himself in with his kids.This he doesn't like, as he is now in a reflective state in his life and wantingand needing his children to be closer to him. So he sets about his own journeyto re-acquaint himself with each one of them, and without giving anymore away,it suffices to say that it's a journey filled with deep emotion and substancethat will have you shedding more than a few tears before it's all over.Not only is DeNiro subtle & brilliant in this, but he's supported by an excellent castof top shelf actors and actresses who collectively help to bring this film home big time!These are things that REAL PEOPLE face in EVERYDAY LIFE as we grow older, thingschange, we lose our loved ones, and the stresses of the day to day grind pull usfurther and further apart from the loved ones who are still alive.This story is filled with brilliant writing and direction as welland I warn you, you will be tearing up a few times before it ends!I rented this movie first to check it out, but I'll defintely be buying itvery soon because it's worth it. I highly recommend this film! (-: