Product: Everybody's Fine (2009)
Rating: 3.0
DeNiro is back at the top of his game...
One thing that I am most grateful for when it comes to `Everybody's Fine' is that it proves once again that Robert DeNiro is a great actor. For anyone who is convinced that, like his counterpart Al Pacino, DeNiro is washed up and reduced to a mere caricature of his former self needs to set some time aside to watch this small, intimate and earnest little film. The film itself is not a great movie (it is layered with too many clichés to be great) but DeNiro sheds his usual `tough guy' persona and delivers something honest and relatable, heartbreaking and beautiful.His best performance in nearly a decade, easy.The film tells the story of a widower, Frank, who can feel his family (which consist now of four grown children) slipping through his fingers. They are all set to come visit him for Thanksgiving and they all wind up canceling. This sparks something in Frank, moving him to avoid doctor's orders and hightail it cross country to see his children, all of which seem too busy or preoccupied to spend time with him. That, and they are all apparently lying to him about everything. As Frank visits his children (surprise, daddy's home) he uncovers truths about them and also about himself.There are moments here that really speak to the audience, but they are sadly muddled by clichéd generalizations and a choppy subplot involving a wayward son that only works part of the time. Still, the overall effect of the film is light and warming and it really should be seen. It didn't get the reception it deserved (everyone was predicting a DeNiro Oscar nom shortly before the film was released and then, well, that didn't even come close to happening). DeNiro alone is just magnificent here and totally deserving of the praise and attention. The rest of the cast works well with him, from Barrymore to Rockwell to Beckinsale. I only wish that the film allotted for more time with each child. Frank is rushed off so quickly that we really only get glimpses of his children and the impact they have on him. If they had only been fleshed out a little more than this film could have transcended the lighthearted genre it pegged itself and it could have been something deeper, more meaningful.But I get the feeling that this is exactly what they were going for, and on that front they succeeded.In the end I totally recommend this, especially to anyone who has been a fan of DeNiro over the years and is longing to see him do something worthy of his name once again. This is for DeNiro what `About Schmidt' was for Jack Nicholson, only `About Schmidt' was a much better film.