“Everybody’s Fine”: Dysfunctional for the holidays

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:04:00 +0000

"Everybody's Fine" is this year's winner in the "We're All Dysfunctional Together and We Like It That Way" Family-Drama Sweepstakes, a picture with pathos, family secrets and an aging dad, the kind of guy who's worked hard and lived a good life but now doesn't have much to do but rattle around his garden and jingle the change in his pants pocket. Robert De Niro stars as Frank Goode, an upstate New York retiree (his former line of work was applying PVC coating to telephone wires) and recent widower. Since the death of his wife, eight months previous, he's lost touch with his four children, who are scattered across the country. There's Kate Beckinsale's Amy, a moneyed Chicago advertising exec; Drew Barrymore's Rosie, a dancer in Las Vegas; Sam Rockwell's Robert, a professional musician based in Denver; and the mysterious David, a successful painter living in New York City.

Frank hasn't been a bad father. It's simply that his late wife had always been the conduit -- the telephone wire, if you will -- through which the family kept in touch. When all four of the kids cancel a weekend family get-together he's planned -- the mysterious David sends his regrets by proxy -- Frank sets out by train and bus to make a surprise visit to each of them. He packs a few clothes into a suitcase, along with the medication on which his life depends (pay attention here!), zips up his standard-issue Dad-beige golf jacket, and sets off.

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“Everybody’s Fine”: Dysfunctional for the holidays