Al Pacino for some reason decided to have plastic surgery. Aside from making him look permanently shocked, it ridiculous that a character actor would want to mess around with his main source of income, in the same way that a physicist wouldn't drink White Ace.
On the other hand, Pacino's contemporary and regular collaborator De Niro hasn't touched his mug, leaving him free to clean up in the lucrative grandfather and retired policemen market. In Everybody's Fine he plays the former, an old man who becomes increasingly lonely following his wife's death, and so goes in search of his four children, hoping to reconnect with them.
De Niro is Frank Goode, a telephone cable maker who spent his entire life working to provide for his family, whilst pushing his children as hard as he could to succeed. As a result, they are all a bit resentful and cagey towards him. Everybody's fine is about his attempts to get to know them, a process made almost impossible as they try to hide their problems from him, not wanting him to judge them failures.
It's not a fast paced film and much of its impact relies on what the characters don't say rather than what they do. De Niro does a superb job with Goode, portraying him as a tired old man whose need to see his children comes into direct conflict with his natural desire to try and direct their lives.
Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore and Kate Beckinsale all perform well as Frank's children, although their roles themselves are exceptionally basic, requiring almost nothing from the actors, which makes it fairly surprising that they signed up, all testament to De Niro's still exceptionally powerful allure as an actor.
Kirk Jones' screenplay requires very little from anyone except for De Niro, and even then not an enormous amount. The story is not a complex one and by telling you so little about the characters he lets you read pretty much anything into them you want, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on whether you think Drew Barrymore's character in ET would have grown up to be a lesbian dancer.
Jones does a reasonable job as a director, but again, it is mostly De Niro's performance that keeps you watching to the sad but predictable end.
On the other hand, Pacino's contemporary and regular collaborator De Niro hasn't touched his mug, leaving him free to clean up in the lucrative grandfather and retired policemen market. In Everybody's Fine he plays the former, an old man who becomes increasingly lonely following his wife's death, and so goes in search of his four children, hoping to reconnect with them.
De Niro is Frank Goode, a telephone cable maker who spent his entire life working to provide for his family, whilst pushing his children as hard as he could to succeed. As a result, they are all a bit resentful and cagey towards him. Everybody's fine is about his attempts to get to know them, a process made almost impossible as they try to hide their problems from him, not wanting him to judge them failures.
It's not a fast paced film and much of its impact relies on what the characters don't say rather than what they do. De Niro does a superb job with Goode, portraying him as a tired old man whose need to see his children comes into direct conflict with his natural desire to try and direct their lives.
Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore and Kate Beckinsale all perform well as Frank's children, although their roles themselves are exceptionally basic, requiring almost nothing from the actors, which makes it fairly surprising that they signed up, all testament to De Niro's still exceptionally powerful allure as an actor.
Kirk Jones' screenplay requires very little from anyone except for De Niro, and even then not an enormous amount. The story is not a complex one and by telling you so little about the characters he lets you read pretty much anything into them you want, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on whether you think Drew Barrymore's character in ET would have grown up to be a lesbian dancer.
Jones does a reasonable job as a director, but again, it is mostly De Niro's performance that keeps you watching to the sad but predictable end.