The movie starts off with all of the children calling in and saying they wouldn't be able to make it to a get together that Frank has planned. As a result, Frank decides to take trains and buses around the country to visit his four children.
Frank's first stop is to visit his artist son David, but when his favorite son doesn't answer at his New York City apartment, he moves on to daughter Amy (Kate Beckinsale), a high-ranking advertising executive. As far as Frank knows, Amy, her husband, and her son Jack (Lucian Maisel) are a happy and loving family; after all, that's the last thing he heard from his wife. It is pretty apparent at dinner, though, that all isn't quite as Frank was led to believe.
Frank then moves on to see Robert (Sam Rockwell), who Frank believes is a successful composer, and quickly finds out he is just a percussionist for the local symphony. It is with this visit that we start to see just how much De Niro's character pushed his children while they were growing up to be better than he was. He spent his life applying the coating to telephone wire in order to give his children as much of an education and opportunity in life as possible. As a result, it seems that none of them want to tell their father how their life hasn't turned out exactly as he had hoped.
From Robert, Frank moves on to Las Vegas to meet Rosie (Drew Barrymore), who is supposed to be a big-time dancer. While it isn't expressly said, we get the impression she is little more than a showgirl, and while she appears to be living in a large and plush apartment, not everything is as it seems.
While Frank tries several times to get a hold of David, what he doesn't realize is that the kids know something is up with their sibling. While Frank travels, we get snippets of conversations as each child calls the others to talk about David, as well as Frank's impending visits.
One of the interesting aspects of Everybody's Fine is that we get to see Frank's view of his children change throughout each encounter. When Frank first sees each of the kids, it is as they were around eight or nine years-old. These visions quickly change to their adult versions, and Frank is forced to see each one as the person they grew up to be and not the child he remembers.
Everybody's Fine has a couple of special features. Besides the seven extended or deleted scenes, there is also an interview with Paul McCartney concerning the inspiration and development of the movie's closing song, "(I Want To) Come Home." While mildly interesting to see what the music grew from, it probably won't appeal to a wide range of audiences.
Everybody's Fine is a heartstring-tugging drama that is fairly slow moving and doesn't give any kind of relief (comedic or otherwise). Because of this, it won't appeal to most people as it gets quite depressing at times. The actual acting in the film is pretty good as De Niro plays the out-of-touch father fairly well and each of the children do a good job of trying to placate their father and do what they think is in his best interest. Unfortunately, because of the overall down-feeling nature of the film, the whole experience leaves you feeling a bit depressed. Everybody's Fine is a movie for those that like pure dramas only, and anyone who needs other aspects to lighten up the mood need not even rent this film.
Clips
I UnderstandCooking the Turkey
Good Team
Got a Girlfriend
