It's a touching, and beautiful character study on real people, with real problems. You can go anywhere - and you'll find someone who's faced an alcoholic - and the effects it has on their personality, their relationships, and ultimately their life. Now, ask three people about divorce - statistics show that over 50% of couples end in separation. Since you've covered two dramatic issues, go take a look at the unemployment rate - or even worse, about the people who've been laid off from their job because of the recession. Finally, imagine facing all three devastating predicaments, in one day. "Everything Must Go", is loosely adapted from the Raymond Carver story "Why Don't You Dance?"--a portrait of a man in collapse.
After Nick (Will Farrell) is fired from his sales job, mostly because of his alcoholism, he comes home and finds that his wife has kicked him --and all of his stuff out of the house and onto the front lawn. She's also canceled their co-owned credit cards and pretty much set him adrift with nowhere, literally, to go. So he pulls up his La-Z-Boy, He cracks a perpetual 12-pack, and drops out of normal life entirely.
Ferrell's work is impressive; there are comic moments scattered throughout the film, but he downplays them until they become moments of desperation. He slowly starts making friends with a neighborhood kid Kenny (Christopher Walace), who also does a fine job, who needs something to do. Two women enter Nick's new anti-life: a new neighbor pregnant Samantha (Rebecca Hall), awaiting the arrival of an absent husband, and an old high school classmate Delilah, played by Laura Dern. Eventually, Nick then finds himself eventually--ready to move on--and selling all his possessions to do so.
This is all accomplished by first time writer/director Dan Rush. He shows us a simplistic story, harnesses it into his own, and produces a deeply moving motion picture. It never feels clichéd or forced--Rush lets his film transcend nicely by not creating plot points for sentiment or lines of dialect for pity. Sure, there's a transformation in Nick's character - but all of it is done with nuance and genuine compassion.
"Everything Must Go" isn't a comedy, but it's not entirely a tragedy, either, It straddles this line with a deeply nuanced confidence. Unconventional, but heart-felt and nonetheless satisfying. "Everything Must Go" leaves on a somewhat melancholy note. We see Nick finally paying his dues,--respecting and giving back to those who've helped him through this dark time. The Band's "I Shall Be Released" starts playing in the background-- and the film morphs from engaging to moving.
