Everybody's Fine DVD
When his four kids cancel the family get together that Frank Goode has planned he decides to hit the road in a surprise visit that ends up explaining the failed family reunion.
Film making 20/25
Video 20/25
Audio 20/25
Bonus Features 8/25
Total 68/100
Robert De Niro plays Frank Goode, a recent widower who looks forward to the first family reunion with his four kids that are all successful at their chosen professions.
When all the kids cancel on Frank he takes matters into his own hands and hits the road for a surprise visit but eventually finds out more than he bargained for.
Frank hits New York city to visit his son who is a big time artist and when he sees a painting in the window of a gallery near his apartment Frank is proud. Frank arrives at his sons apartment but the son is not at home and the next day he still has not arrived so Frank leaves an envelope and heads to the next sibling.
When Frank gets to his daughters house he finds out some surprising things that have been nagging him about his daughters marriage. Frank's grandson is very abrupt and rude to his father and Frank at first thinks this is due to a typical teenager.
While the beginning of the film starts out well when we get to the first visit we first get clues that not all is as it seems with Franks family. Frank appears to be clueless to these little white lies that his offspring give him but soon he shows that he knows more than they think.
During telephone conversations when Frank is on his way to the next offspring residence we find out the underlying story. Franks son the artist is not doing so well in life and has drug problems, Franks other kids are trying to get word on what his situation is after an arrest and hospitalization in Mexico.
Frank has several run ins with both kind and bad people in his travels and he ends up losing his medications in one encounter so Frank lies to his doctor about his vacation. Frank's doctor advised him to stay home and Frank does not want to admit his travels so he skips his medicine and ends up in the hospital himself.
When his daughters and son are at his bedside he finds out that his artistic son was going to Mexico to buy drugs and had an overdose because he probably swallowed them instead of getting caught with them when he was arrested. Frank tells his family that they should not have lied to him and he says in the end that if anyone asked he would tell them that Everybody's Fine.
The movie is pretty good in the typical tear jerker fashion that so many women like but Ialso found it moving that all those little things people lie about can turn around on them. His kids were just trying to protect him but Frank quickly saw through their little white lies and figured they were just trying to make him feel better which they were.
Everybody's Fine may not be an Oscar hit but it is well worth watching at least once and a good collection piece for those odd movies with some pretty big stars. Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell all give great performances that are very realistic and about down to earth manners.
The film on DVD was very good technically for both video and audio but had very little in the way of additional bonus content which is pretty common for DVD releases. The video was very good and audio was equally great with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and a French language track as well as French and Spanish subtitles.
The bonus content is just some deleted and extended scenes with a music video by and making of Paul McCartney's I Want To Come Home. Everybody's Fine is well worth a viewing and if you're a fan of any of the stars would make a great addition to anyone's movie collection.