Everybody's Fine [HD]

DeNiro bulls-eye
I went by myself, a 62 year-old with 4 grown sons. I sat in my old hunting coat and sniffled and cried for however long it was. I think De Niro wears his role with both an ease and a genius few possess. I'll get the DVD as soon as it's released. I know De Niro's own real-life dad passed shortly before his "Bronx Tales" was released, and perhaps, in some zen-like chi, this kinda closes a circle on the dad-stuff there. I met De Niro once, and was extremely impressed with his character (as in 'integrity', not as in an acting role).

I'm a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic. His kids are neither everybody nor fine. Discuss.
Everybody's Fine is a "people" movie, a study of characters -- both central and peripheral. It's a drama with some comedic elements, heavy on emotion but low on over-the-top histrionics. And depending on where it might hit you in your own life, it can be a real tearjerker, in that good way that makes you think about the important things and discuss them with the important people in your life.

Robert DeNiro gives an understated performance as a father who would not or could not realize he was expressing lifelong disappointment with his children if they were less than "the best." They had spent years hiding any flaws from him and sharing their struggles only with their mother, who had passed several months earlier.

Their stories come together as he travels the country to reconnect. Along the way, British director Kirk Wise (Waking Ned, Nanny McPhee) presents snapshots of interesting characters and fascinating faces, both genial and malevolent.

The part...

What You Don't Know WILL Hurt You!
As a big fan of Robert De Niro, I was excited to see him appearing in another dramatic role. De Niro appears as a widower who embarks on a cross-country trip to visit each of his four children after they all cancel their plans to visit him at his home in Elmira, New York. Against his physician's advise he sets out and each of the four stops is a disappointment as he slowly realizes, by their thinly veiled excuses, that something isn't "right". A perfectionistic father who coated electrical wiring for a living, he expected his children to reach the top of their chosen fields(an artist, an advertising executive, a musician / conductor, and a dancer). As the story unfolds it become apparent that the kids have gone to great lengths to present a facade of success and happiness. He comes to realize that the negative details of his children's lives have always been hidden from him...even by his now deceased wife. In a touching scene when he insists on the truth regarding one of his children,...

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