Edited by R. Allen Leider
December 4th, 2009
Edited by R. Allen Leider
December 4th, 2009
Everybody's Fine
 |
Despite the 20 year gap between
Giuseppi Tornatore's 1990 original "Stanno Tutti Bene" and this American
remake, the theme of family ties still works. Robert DeNiro takes
the role Marcello Mastroianni created as a father, in this case Frank Goode,
who decides to connect with his four children shortly after the death of
his wife. When none of them are able to make a barbecue party he
puts weeks of preparation into, Frank packs and hits the road.
Unable to fly because of a respritory ailment incurred over 20+ years of work coating telephone cables, Frank rides the rails, takes buses and manages to surprise three of his four offspring. The missing one, painter David is mysteriously mssing in Mexico and all the other kids know it but keep the matter from their Dad. That seems to be a family tradition,too, as Frank discovers that his wife had the real communication lines to the kids and only told him the good stuff. |
| The telephone cables that DeNiro
manufactured all his life are metaphorically the umbillicals that tie his
children to him, long distance wires that enable long distance relationships.
So, one by one, Frank gets to see his kids, dancer Rosie ( Drew Barrymore ) ad exec. Amy ( Kate Beckinsale, slacker musician Robert (Sam Rockwell) and ultimately they disclose the truth about David after he discovers the truth about each of them. No one in this family is without at least one huge skeleton in their closet. Goodpoints are made about Franks fathering in his early days and the flashbacks with kid actors are effective, but one wonders why it took twenty years to remake a good Italian art film that, franklym, didn't break any box office records back in '90. See this one for the performances. |
The Players: Robert DeNiro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, and Sam Rockwell
The Filmmakers:
Directed by Kirk Jones
Screenplay by Kirk Jones and Massimo De Rita ( original screenplay )
Release by Miramax
 |
Ryan Bingham ( George Clooney ) is a corporate downsizing
expert. His job job is to fire people from theirs. The anguish, hostility,
and despair of his "clients" has left him falsely compassionate, living
out of a suitcase, and loving every second of it. One day, his cherished
life on the road is threatened just as he is on the cusp of reaching ten
million frequent flyer miles and just after he's met Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga
) the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams.
His boss hires arrogant young Natalie (Anna Kendrick ), who has developed a method of video conferencing that will allow termination without ever leaving the office - essentially threatening the free-roving existence Ryan so cherishes because it prohibits his establishing any permanent ties to anyplace or anyone.. Determined to show the naive girl the error of her logic, Ryan takes her on one of his cross country firing expeditions, but as she starts to realize the disheartening realities of her profession, he begins to see the downfalls to his way of life. |
| As the truth and bitter reality of what Ryan's professional
can do to people closes in on Natalie, Ryan makes some life decisons based
on what he knows about people and situations, which is very little as his
determination to become more human only blow sup in his face and precipitates
chaos. His relationship with Alex is one shocker and his decision
to get closer to his sister Julie ( Melanie Lynskey ) and her daughter
Kara at the latter's wedding is another.
This is a tightly written little story with some great lines and a few small shocks. Anna Kendrikc is particularly alluring and dramatically captivating in this morality play of a man who choses ot be an island and a society that makes it SO easy...and sometimes desaireable. |
The Players: George Clooney, Natalie Keenerm Vera Farmiga, Jason Bateman, Amy Morton and Melanie Lynskey
The Filmmakers:
Directed by Jason Reitman
Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Release by Paramount Pictures
 |
Capt. Sam Cahill (Tobey McGuire ) has a successful military career, Sam is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart Grace ( Natalie Portman )and two daughters. His younger brother Tommy ( Jake Gyllenhaal )is a drifter, just out of jail and again living on the edge of the law. When Sam is sent to Afghanistan on a UN peacekeeping mission. his fourth tour of duty, the balance between the two brothers changes forever. Sam'Black Hawk helicopter is shot down and he is listed as missing in action - presumed dead - and Grace is comforted by Tommy, who against all odds shows himself capable of taking responsibility for both himself and the family. It soon becomes clear that their feelings have developed beyond mutual sympathy. Tommy and Grace discover that they don't hate each other as much as they had thought, and Tommy decides to reform and make himself useful around Grace's house. Then, Sam comes home with a full-blown case of post-traumatic stress disorder because of what he had to do to survive in captivity. |
The Players:Tobey McGuire, Natalie Portman, Jake Gillenhaal,. Sam Shepard and Mare Winningham
The Filmmakers:
Directed by Jim Sheridan
Screenplay by Susanne Bier and David Benioff Based on Susanne
Bier's 2004 Swedish film, "Brothers".
Release by Lionsgate
.gif){kind=small}
