Weekly Review -- Family matters

Everybody's Fine (2009) -- Christmas-themed movies share a lot with the inspiration cinema sub-genre. More often than not, they serve the purpose of driving home their overdone moralistic messages, lacking any real meaning. Still, some truly affecting pieces do manage to sneak through during the holiday season and this is the category where Everybody's Fine belongs. Widower Frank Goode (Robert De Niro) plans a reunion with his adult children, all of whom have always been closer to their mother, and invites them for a visit. When his invitation is dismissed, Frank sets off on a cross-country trip to see his two sons and two daughters, learning some surprising truths along the way... The always excellent acting by De Niro, the finely drawn out relationships and the chemistry between the cast prevent Everybody's Fine from becoming yet another schmaltzy weeper. De Niro holds this movie together from beginning to end. His character is an ordinary man who has lost all connections to his family, due to the death of the one person who kept those links from crumbling. Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore and Kate Beckinsale fare well in their roles; Rockwell is a standout as the son who has become a victim of disenchantment, and who is convinced that his choices have rendered him a disappointment to his parents, not realizing that it was simply life's twists and turns that came between them. The screenplay makes some imaginative choices, playing with the characters' views of one another; the first dinner reunion scene evokes Buñuel's work, both thematically and stylistically. I also liked the idea of a road trip as symbolic of Frank's learning journey, particularly considering the diverse journeys that his offspring have taken and that have taken them so far away from their family core. The film is a simple, yet complex, tale of an everyday family that needs to find itself again in the whirlwind of life. See it with your loved ones.

8/10