~Sunday~ Tonight I watched Everybody’s Fine, a movie I’d never heard of until scrolling through the list of movies available free with my Amazon Prime subscription.
I only saw the picture of the male star, and was calling him Robert Duvall in my mind, until the intro credits began rolling and pointed out that it was Robert DeNiro, not Robert Duvall. Bless my movies- and actors-challenged mess.
The synopsis
A widower, who realized his only connection to his family was through his wife, sets off on an impromptu road trip to reunite with each of his grown children.
The trailer
My thoughts and observations
- I liked this movie a lot, probably because it was a little on the dark side.
- Themes touched on:
- Ambition
- Parents’ hopes and dreams for their children, and children living up to those hopes and dreams
- Family dynamics—both parent-child and sibling-sibling
- Dysfunctional communication: “We tell you the good news and spare you the bad.” | “It’s easier to talk to mom.”
- Drugs (use and abuse)
- Several of Robert DiNero’s facial expressions and mannerisms in this movie reminded me, surprisingly, of my dad’s.
- Most of the dream/flashback scenes worked for me, the ones when looking at the kids as adults but seeing them as children. The one near the end that functions as expository narrative did not work for me.
- This was pretty much a two-thumbs up movie for me.
Have you seen this movie? If so, what did you think of it?