"Everybody's Fine"... well, except David...

Everybody's Fine is a holiday remake on the 1990 Italian film of the same name. Frank Goode (Robert DeNiro) is an old widower who is usually visited by his four kids (David Goode, who is now an artist in New York, Rosie Goode [Kate Beckinsale] who works at an advertising company in Chicago, Robert Goode [Sam Rockwell] who is a musician in Denver, and Rosie Goode [Drew Barrymore] who is a dancer in Las Vegas) every year, but they all canceled on him. Therefore, he decides to pay a visit to each of them. The catch is that he has a condition where he can't fly in a plane, so he is forced to take buses, metros, trains, and even hitch a ride with a trucker. But what happens when David doesn't show up to answer the door, or reply to any of Frank's phone calls? And what's with the rest of his family? Why did they cancel? And what are they hiding?

Lucian Maisel also plays Amy's son Jack. Her husband Jeff is played by Damian Young.

At first, it just seemed like a typical Christmas movie, but it has its interesting twists. As usual, I prefer not to spoil them unless asked privately. I sort of guessed what happened to David, but not in detail. I actually didn't know that this was a remake until I saw it in the closing credits - I would like to check out the original. The David subplot is somewhat emotional, and it starts to reveal itself as the film goes along (you hear phone calls among the kids), but nonetheless, it ends as a feel-good Christmas movie.

The film got a good PG-13 rating, nothing really exaggerated and it could very well work as a family movie. I'm not sure what's prominent, I guess drug use since Frank must take prescription medication, and something else I won't talk about. There's also miscellaneous drinking and smoking, but it's nothing major. Robert attempts to smoke before Frank stops him (he says he made the mistake himself and quit). The only real violent act is Frank running into a man who is seemingly homeless, and he offers him some money, but then he tries to steal his wallet. They get into a brief fight, and while the other man doesn't make off with anything, he smashes Frank's vial of pills with his foot and runs off. Frank attempts to salvage what he can of it and takes the crumbs of the pills throughout the film. Upon his return home, Frank decides to take a plane, and right before a storm, he uses the bathroom. The plane starts to wobble and the pilot tells everyone to fasten their seatbelts, but Frank is on the toilet and appears to be about to vomit (clutching his stomach and covering his mouth), but he blacks out before we see what happened to him (he is later seen waking up from a hospital bed). The closest thing to sexual content in this film is a woman passing Frank and asking "Do you want to see my leg?" as she begins to lift her dress up (we don't see anything), but Frank responds with "Do you want to see mine?" and she walks off. Frank's fountain is a sculpture of a boy holding his penis (from which water comes out, but it doesn't look realistic). Don't worry about Rosie - we never see her do any explicit dancing. As Frank blacks out on the plane, he has a vision of his kids as kids in a picnic, but with their current adult mindset. Rosie says she's "not sure if she likes men or women", which could imply that she is bisexual. Frank also says a string of swear/religious words (something like "F**k s**t d**m Jesus Christ!") after failing to hit a golf ball further than Jack.

If you like Christmas movies, someone in the cast, or films about family bonding and separation, then this is the film for you. Stay tuned during the closing credits for two sets of photos: One set is photos Frank took on his trip, and the other appears to be some of the photos Frank took when his kids were young.