Everything Must Go (2010– 97 mins) Will Ferrell, Rebecca Hall 

A struggling former alcoholic, Nick Halsey (Ferrell) is having problems keeping off the suds. He got fired today and came home to find all his earthly possessions on the front lawn, and the locks to his home changed, and a Dear Nick letter in tow. “Everything Must Go” is the story of Nick’s crappy day and his attempt to get his act together and deal with it all. Will he succumb to the pressure and just drown his sorrows or will he try and snap out of it. The only other people who can give him some insight are his AA Sponsor and Cop Frank, who keeps him out of jail for having his stuff on the front lawn and public drinking; Kenny, a Local kid who helps Nick sell his stuff and gives him someone to talk to; And finally Samantha, a pregnant woman who is new to the neighborhood and living by herself until her husband comes to the home from working out east.

“Everything Must Go” is a character centered drama with some comedy sprinkled in. It never truly sways too far one way into drama or comedy but still becomes a little bit of a downer at times. Yet, Ferrell has this natural way of bringing us out of the downer portions with his manerisms. Maybe it’s b/c we can’t take him too seriously after all these years of shake and bake and cowbells, or maybe he’s that good. I think it’s more of the former rather then the latter but it’s not to say he’s a bad actor, just not one we will be able to take seriously any time soon. And yet I think he was decent in this movie but if it was much longer or much more serious I think we might have lost interest in him being serious.All in all, it’s actually a decent movie. I normally don’t enjoy these types of movies with all of the boring intraspection and semi-useless dialog but I happened to actually enjoy this a bit. I don’t know if I have to be in the right mood for this type of character film and given the right mood I might enjoy something like “Lost in Translation” (which I thought was an utter bore…decent dialog but utter bore), but either way this one is worth the rental.

As far as the supporting cast goes, only Christopher Jordan Wallace, who previously only played a role as the kid version of Biggie in “Notorious”, was noticeable here. He brings the role of the local kid willing to help out the down on his luck Nick, from just another kid to a kid we care about as much as we care about Nick himself.

Verdict–> This is going to be another movie where if you like the type of movie, or LOVE the actor you will like it. It’s not a movie the people who love to yuk it up every week watching “Anchorman” are going to like tho. This is still a character piece and it’s that type of fans that will like the movie. I recommend this movie to those types of film fans and those looking to see Ferrel do something different. If you are looking for “Talladega Nights” then turn around now. But if you want to see an actor you like in a decently written movie then give it a shot. Just don’t look at the picture on the cover and see Ferrell, and expect a laugh a minute riot. It’s a serious movie.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS