Robert De Niro is one of our greatest American acting treasures. His sad strong eyes have been a mainstay of cinema in what seems like forever. He has delivered iconic characters over the years and won the Oscar. It seems that once one wins that golden statue, the goal becomes to repeat. With Everybody’s Fine, there is another swing to the back bleachers.

Based on a Italian film, Everybody’s Fine is a story of bringing the family together. Frank Goode (Robert De Niro) is a retired widower who finds that his family is slowly falling apart. He plans a summer visit, preparing the yard for a group full of kin. But, everyone finds an excuse not to come.

So our man Frank decides to surprise visit the kids.. First, he goes to his doctor and discovers that the years at his job has given him a lung disease. The doc says that Frank should not travel and Frank says that he will only take buses and trains. The doctor objects but Frank sneaks out anyway, packing four letters in his bag.

First he goes to NYC to see his son David, the painter. He waits and waits but David never shows up at the apartment. After a day, Frank gets inside the building and slides a letter under the door. Frank sees one of David’s paintings in a gallery window.

Failing in this quest, Frank goes to visit Amy (Kate Beckinsale) in Chicago. When Frank initially sees Amy, he in-visions her as she was when she was a child. We get the notion early on that Frank only sees his kids as when they were growing up, never as adults. She’s an ad executive with a husband and teenage son. The family doesn’t get along at all. The surly youth and befuddled dad are at a crossroads. Amy tells Dad that he really can’t stay because she has to go out of town on business. In reality, she has to go to save David. David has gotten into trouble in Mexico. None of the kids want to tell Frank and all work around him to hide the truth. Frank gives Amy an envelope.

Frank worked putting wire coating on telephone lines and the shots of those lines become a symbolic metaphor of the piece. To make sure we get the symbolic nature of Everybody’s Fine, a hurricane is coming up the Eastern Coast which threatens the Goode family home. Storms and wires lead the characters to a destination.

Third up is Denver and Robert (Sam Rockwall), the conductor. We find that Robert has a dark secret that Frank was never to know. Frank simply asks him if he is happy and gives him the third letter. Lastly, Frank winds up in Las Vegas to see his Rosie (Drew Barrymore). She is a dancer who has a fabulous apartment overlooking the city. Frank discovers that she has a secret or three and delivers her the last letter.

Everybody’s Fine is about how Frank finds out that his wife was the sounding board for all the bad stuff of the family. She always told him that everybody’s fine, so he would not worry about the kids. But it is also about a family that loves each other, no matter the distance or the drama.

Leaving the film, I immediately began to question what I had seen. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that I had been had. The film is a bit to much manipulative and disingenuous in its intentions. The film wallows in self pity while trying to stay above the fray. Presented as a happy ‘feel good’ family flick, the work eventually plunges into a dire depth, shaking the foundation built at the beginning.

The cast is strong. Robert De Niro shows that he can still create strong emotional reaction with subtle movements. He makes Frank an intense, lost man who discovers that everything important in his life is slipping through his fingers. There is this grasp to make the world right, a grasp which may be futile. Kate Beckinsale has grown as a actress and gives a note perfect performance as the most stable woman in the Goode house. Drew Barrymore is stellar in a role that just feels underwritten. Sam Rockwall gives nothing as Robert in a role that comes across more dishonest than distraught.

As the work goes along, it becomes harder and harder to believe that all of the Goode kids are established, good artists. On the plus side, the Paul McCartney music was stunning. He captures the mood of the piece while giving hope with notes. This is a solid shot at getting the Oscar for Sir Paul.

Everybody’s Fine should get an Academy Award nomination or two. Writer/Director Kirk Jones weaves a solid tale of family that Oscar voters love but I thought it was too over the top. A valiant effort that just misses the mark.

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