Gary Wolcott's "Mr. Movie" column has appeared in the Tri-City Herald since 1992. The Tri-City native now lives in Portland, Ore., and watches about 250 movies each year. This member of Portland's association of movie critics, Far From Hollywood, believes movies are made to be seen on theater screens and should be seen there and not on television screens. Have a question for Mr. Movie? Click on "Add Comment" below. Mr. Movie has joined Twitter. Follow him here.
It is not. Robert De Niro is Frank Goode, a widower wondering why his children arent coming home for a holiday dinner. When they wont come to him, he goes to them. Frank is a retired workaholic perfectionist who drove his children to become his vision of them.
His surprise visits yield other unexpected surprises.
Everybodys Fine is a holiday family flick about a man in crisis. It quietly wonders how someone can know his children for 30 or more years and not really know a thing about them. Frank knows all about communication lines, but he is incapable of a developing a line of communication.
Basing his screenplay on a 1990 Italian movie, writer/director Kirk Jones punctuates Franks dilemma with conversations from one kid to the next on the phone wires he worked so hard to make. What do we do with dad?
The kids are connected. Mom saw to that. But doing dad is a drag.
Jones (Waking Ned Devine) gets great supporting performances out of Drew Barrymore, Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale but the movie belongs to De Niro who milks miles out of long, thoughtful silence.
Everybodys Fine isnt completely fine. Jones, script and cast jerk your emotional chain a bit, and there are places where you will feel manipulated. Its a minor complaint. Bring a couple of hankies.
Mr. Movie rating: 4 stars
Rated PG-13 for mature themes. It opens Friday, Dec. 4 at the Carmike 12 and at the Fairchild Cinemas 12.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it's your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on video.
2 stars to 1 star: Don't bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson lead We Bought a Zoo's cast. It is a highly fictionalized but based on a true story film about a widowed writer who buys and refurbishes a small zoo.
Reality and fiction meet in just two places, the name of the main character and the zoo.
'Arthur Christmas' delivers a new holiday favorite
In 2011, Santa is high tech. He zooms about the globe in an other-worldly looking craft.
The current Santa and his elves slide down ropes and use Mission: Impossible super-spy technology and military precision. And on one magic night, they disperse gifts to all the children in the world.
'Contraband' a rare January movie that doesn't tank
Studios dump movies in January.
This month is when the biggies released between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day begin to fade and the studios begin dribbling award-worthy art films out to smaller markets.
35th Annual Portland International Film Festival begins
The 35th Annual Portland International Film Festival has begun. It runs through February 25. For film fans this one is loaded. There are 140 films from 36 different countries — 93 are features and 46 shorts.
Portland isn’t that far from Tri-Cities art film lovers. This entry reviews a few films from the first weekend and Monday. I’ll be posting reviews throughout the series until its conclusion February 25th.
Kudos to Battelle Film Club for bringing 'The Hedgehog'
The Hedgehog is a subtitled French film from 2009 that finally got released in the U.S. last year, and thanks to the Battelle Film Club , it will be seen in the Tri-Cities.
The story centers around Paloma, an 11-year old girl whose interests are philosophy and art.
No one in her family can relate. Her parents barely speak to each other much less to Paloma. The disconnected mom talks to plants, and the psychiatrist but can’t talk to her daughter. Dad is nowhere to be found.
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