Everybody’s Fine

Everybody’s Fine

Director: Kirk Jones (director of Nanny McPhee)

Starring: Robert De Niro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell,

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and brief strong language.

Everybody’s Fine is a beautiful study into families that captures the audience’s heart and pulls at their heart’s strings. It is a wonderful film that easily gets an 8.5 out of 10. It is a little bit of a holiday move in that it is about a family coming together and growing closer, but only one scene actually takes place during the holidays, and so it is one of those holiday films that can be watched any time you want to feel good, cry a little bit, and laugh.

De Niro is a retired blue collar worker who, after the death of his wife, feels his grown children are slipping away from him and he is losing connection to his family. He raised his children to be successful and happy and wants to see them all and know they are okay. So he embarks on a road trip to see his children and be with them.



The movie is a slower film, it’s pacing is similar to The Boys Are back, another beautiful film about strengthening family relationships, but the pacing does not detract from the film at all. It kind of adds to the apprehension De Niro’s character feels as he travels across country to see his children. There are beautiful landscape shots and a little theme of telephone wires following the road across thousands of miles. As De Niro travels we hear telephone conversations some of his children calling each other and some of other conversations. I guess it sounds a little weird my describing it, but it makes sense in the film.



It was nice to a see a good family film without any sex, nudity, and limited swearing. This move is not really a comedy, all though there are definitely some funny scenes, that is not what this movie is about. Themes in the film revolve around deceit in families, hiding truths, and trying to avoid disappointment, and coping with loneliness. I imagine this is a movie that grown up sons and daughters and widowed spouses can identify with. Everybody’s Fine is a film about a grown up family and the challenges that a family can face in the wake of a tragedy and when they are spread across the country.

The director did a good job with the film’s pacing. The script is believable and doesn’t cross into the land of cheesy drivel that so often happens in dramas. It is a clever, all the more so because the actors are so good. De Niro is the stern father whose children try to hide their imperfections from because they fear his disappointment in them. The children play their parts well, and we feel a swell of emotion as we see them through De Niro’s eyes as the little kids they once were.



I highly recommend this feel good movie. It is beautiful and fun. My wife cried during it, and I even got a little choked up. Again I say this is an easy 8.5 out of 10, there is just so much to this movie that I wouldn’t want people to miss. It is a film with a broad audience base, so a lot of people in different stages of life can enjoy the many elements of the film. Everybody’s Fine is an excellent family film!

Sex/Nudity – 3 out of 10 - In a brief clip there is a water fountain/statue of ancient Greek style of a little boy holding his penis, urinating. There is also a discussion of sexual preference confusion. In one scene a woman giving a man a lift suggests a motel he can stay the night at. He thinks she is making a sexual proposition, she says she is sleeping in her truck.

Violence – 3 out of 10 - There is an attempted mugging and scuffle, one man is thrown down to the ground.

Profanity – one “F” word and a few other mild expletives, a few religious exclamations. The language is pretty uncalled for, the “F” word is during a mistake while golfing, but it is kind of muttered and I only noticed it because I always watch my movies with the subtitles on.