Everything Must Go

Everything Must Go is an art movie. Maybe that wasn't the director's intention but that's how I'll classify it.

I give it 3 stars out of 4.

Just a very simple, and ultimately touching, story about a man who's life is falling apart and it is purely his own fault.

It is nice to see Will Ferrell ACT and not play his normal over the top persona in comedies.

This is a QUIET movie. Just a mellow ride with some humor, some drama, a pleasant setting, good cinematography and production values and interesting characters. One of the better films I've seen this year! I might even be tempted to give it 3 and 1/2 stars! It is like hanging out in a museum for the day or a quiet afternoon enjoying a good bottle of wine. Not something you'd want to do everyday but for an afternoon it is a nice diversion from the mad, mad, crazy world we live in.

And no, it is NOT a guilty pleasure. It is a good film but not for everyone. Somehow I think this might have worked better as a UK or French film.

I love a slam bang movie like Kick-Ass or Inglourious Basterds or Oldboy as much as the next cat. But this isn't that movie.

Like I said, it is a quiet art movie. Like The Music of Chance starring James Spader from back in the 90s.

Writer-director Dan Rush did a very good job. Especially since this is his FIRST film and first Internet Movie Database credit! It is almost like something Hal Hartley might have done but less quirky.

¨Do you know what the rate of success is for marriage when one person sobers up, but the other one doesn't?¨

Will Ferrell stars in this fantastic comedy slash drama, but this isn't the typical Ferrell comedy where we see him screaming all over the screen. This time he plays a quiet and sad alcoholic, and it's perhaps one of his best performances to date. Everything Must Go was a really pleasant surprise for me; it reminded me a lot of 2008's film The Visitor starring Richard Jenkins. Will Ferrell gives a very similar and quiet performance. Nothing really happens in the movie, but it's the relationship between the characters that carries the film to a higher ground. This is Dan Rush's first film as a director, and he really hits a home run with his debut film. He also adapted the screenplay from Raymond Carver's short story ¨Why Don't You Dance.¨ The dialogue in this movie is just great, and it really feels authentic. The actors also do a great job with the pauses; everything about this movie makes it fresh. The film is rather slow paced and focuses more on the drama and interactions between characters who end up bonding in unexpected ways. It also has very funny moments; although not the laugh out loud kind of humor, but more of a put a grind on your face kind of comedy. I didn't know Ferrell had it in him to give a performance of this caliber without relying on his usual loud mouth role. This is the sort of guy we can identify with, and whose life seems to be unraveling right in front of us. So much potential gone down the drain due to a small mistake.

Will Ferrell plays a Sales Executive named Nick Halsey who at the beginning of the film is being fired from his job due to his problems with alcohol. He was a great worker, and seemed to be recovering from his drinking problem, but recently had a relapse when he traveled to Denver and decided to have a few drinks to celebrate an important sale. Word got out to the office in Arizona and they decided it was time to let Nick go. Without a job, now Nick arrives home only to discover that all his things are laying in the front yard of his house and his wife has changed the locks of the doors. Apparently in Denver he also slept with another woman and now his wife has kicked him out of the house. Nick decides to stay in his front yard sitting on his reclining chair and has no intention of moving out. Someone makes a complain and the police come to arrest him for disturbing the peace in the neighborhood, but his friend, Detective Frank Garcia (Michael Peña), gets him a permit to stay in his front lawn for five days with the excuse that he is having a garage sale. During these days he befriends a young boy named Kenny (Christopher Jordan Wallace) who practically spends all day on his own. Nick hires him to help out with the sale and during that time they become friends. Nick teaches Kenny a thing or two about baseball. A new neighbor also has recently moved in the house in front of Nick's; she introduces herself as Samantha (Rebecca Hall) and says she's expecting a baby girl in a couple of months. Nick opens up to her about his problems and they being an interesting friendship.

Everything Must Go is a really interesting small film that will surely put a smile on your face as we see these authentic interactions between characters that probably under normal circumstances never would've befriended each other. The thing I enjoyed the most about this film was the realistic way in which each of these characters was portrayed; and the way the actors played them. Will Ferrell, Christopher Wallace, and Rebecca Hall (who I first came to love in Ben Affleck's flick The Town) all give great performances and the success of the film relies entirely on them. The movie isn't deep, it doesn't try to be preachy either; it just focuses on these small relationships and lets us now that it's never too late to start again. Will Ferrell should continue to accept interesting projects like this so he can prove that he is more than a one dimensional actor. I love his comedies, like Talladega Nights and Ron Burgundy, but it is great to see him in different roles as well proving he can be a serious actor as well. Director, Dan Rush took a huge risk by giving him the lead role, but the gamble paid off because he fit the role perfectly. This is a different kind of film, but I absolutely recommend it. I loved it.

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I really enjoyed Stranger than Fiction and, since I had heard Will Ferrell's performance in that movie compared favorably to the one in Everything Must Go, was excited to see EMG. I walked away after seeing EMG a little unsure of whether I truly enjoyed the movie or just merely appreciated the quality of the director's vision and execution. Everything Must Go is the story of Nick Halsey (Ferrell), a struggling alcoholic who, in the first 10 minutes of the movie, has been laid of from his job and kicked out of his house by his wife, all within the same day. The rest of the movie looks at Halsey's attempt to manage the tension between wanting what he once had and trying to pursue a life that he desires, even though he isn't entirely sure of what that looks like. I will start by saying I thought the acting of everyone involved, especially Will Ferrell and Christopher Jordan Wallace, was superb and a highlight of the movie. I thought the music and visuals added significantly to the feel of the movie, especially how so much of the movie occurred in the front yard with the records of his father occasionally playing in the background. Now I knew to expect a story that was not a happy-go-lucky comedy (is there one about an alcoholic struggling with sobriety), but was hoping for some more lightheartedness. I did particularly enjoy watching the relationship between Nick Halsey and Wallace's "Kenny Loftus", and thought that the filmmakers did a good job pairing the two actors up. A couple of things with which I walked away: first, I found it interesting how the director decided to show Halsey's eventual growth in the way that he let go of certain things, and to whom he left them. Afterwards, a friend of mine and I discussed how difficult these acts would have been, but thought it appropriate for someone trying to move beyond such a serious issue as alcoholism. I also found it interesting that such a pivotal character, like Halsey's wife, has no screen time at all, save for her voice in one scene. It is as if the filmmakers want us to see how much damage one person has managed to do by simply stepping out of another's life. Overall, I do believe that the movie was well made, with an interesting story and fantastic acting, but the mood of the film was a little heavier than what I was looking for.

Everything Must Go is probably Will Ferrell's first truly well done film in years. The Other Guys was pretty good, Step Brothers was funny in parts, but this one totally takes the cake for being a great drama, and schools anyone who thinks Will Ferrell can't do anything but comedy. Though I doubt fans of Old School will think highly of this.

The plot isn't too much, but it sustains a film. Will Ferrell is Nick Halsey, an alcoholic who has had one too many alcohol-related episodes and has finally lost his job. He returns home to find out his wife has changed all the locks on the house, and has moved all of his belongings to the front yard. Frustrated and hopeless, he decides to life on his front lawn, and make the best out of a horrible situation.

He spends his day sucking down Blue Ribbons beers, until he is met by a chubby adolescent named Kenny (Christopher Jordan Wallace, the son of the late rapper Notorious B.I.G.). Kenny's mom takes care of an elderly woman, leaving him free to roam the streets on his bike. Kenny and Nick strike up an odd, but warm relationship with each other and when Nick is informed by his AA sponsor (Pena) that he must move all his stuff off his lawn in three days, he works with Kenny to help them hold a big yard sale.

A sub-plot involves Nick getting acquainted with the woman across the street who has just moved to the neighborhood and is awaiting her husband's arrival. The relationship isn't as strong or as well-crafted as the relationship between Nick and Kenny, but it is still a solid one.

It's also noteworthy that we never see Nick's wife or the woman's husband anywhere in the film. We don't need to, though. The plot works fine without them, and I believe that if we saw Nick's wife in the film we'd get too many arguments between the two which may result in (a) believability being low and (b) a possibility for Ferrell's comedy side to sneak in. We don't need comedy here. We get it, but in tiny, miniscule doses. There is almost nothing funny about this situation.

Once again, this proves that Will Ferrell is a great character actor, and doesn't have to get drunk, shout his lines, or get in goofy fights to be successful. Unfortunately, Everything Must Go's overall performance wasn't impressive, and it may be a long time before Ferrell does something like this ever again.

Not everything here is perfect. The worst flaw is the ending because there is no emotional payoff, and nothing to make our experience anymore than just enjoyable. I wanted more than enjoyable. I haven't read the short story "Why Don't You Dance?" by Raymond Carver, so I'm not sure of any similarities both this and the story share. Everything Must Go is a good film in general, but a great film in terms of Ferrell, who is essentially putting on a one-man-show for more than half the film.

Starring: Will Ferrell, Christopher Jordan Wallace, Laura Dern, and Michael Pena. Directed by: Dan Rush.

'EVERYTHING MUST GO': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Will Ferrell tries his hand at more serious comedy-drama again (after the likes of 2006's 'STRANGER THAN FICTION') with this tale of a relapsed alcoholic who loses his job and wife on the same day and resorts to living on his front lawn. It's based on the short story 'Why Don't You Dance' by Raymond Carver and is written and directed by first time filmmaker Dan Rush. It co-stars Rebecca Hall, Michael Pena, Stephen Root, Laura Dern and Christopher Jordan Wallace (the son of Faith Evans and the late rapper 'The Notorious B.I.G.') in his second film. The movie is funny as well as depressing and emotional. It's a nice step in Ferrell's career, for exploring broader range.

Ferrell plays Nick Halsey, an alcoholic who's recently fell off the wagon. As the film opens he's fired from his job for apparently having an affair with a new employee and then left by his wife for the same reason. He's also locked out of his home (after his wife changes the locks), with all of his belongings left on the front lawn. His credit cards have all been canceled as well and his company car is repossessed by his former employers. With no money and no place to go he decides to camp out on his front lawn with all his stuff. His neighbors complain of him being a public nuisance though and he's reported to the police. Thanks to city law his cop buddy Frank (Pena) is able to give him five days to hold a yard sale before he has to kick him off the property. While trying to sell his stuff Nick befriends a new neighbor across the street (Hall) and a local neighborhood kid (Wallace).

Like I said the movie is surprisingly dramatic for a Will Ferrell movie and he pulls off his performance impressively. The material isn't too much of a stretch for him given that it's still pretty comedic but it's definitely honest and set in reality (unlike the majority of his films, which are mostly slapstick) and there's some pretty hard hitting drama at times as well, especially towards the end. The movie still has a sizable amount of laughs though so traditional Ferrell fans shouldn't be disappointed. That's why the movie is the perfect step for Ferrell (to test out his range). A gigantic leap in to serious drama would be to sudden and the film works perfectly as is. A smart move for Ferrell and a decent film results because of it.

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