Every Thing Will Be Fine

Writer Tomas Eldan (James Franco) almost hits Christopher who sled onto the snow-covered road. Tomas carries him back up to the house where his mother Kate (Charlotte Gainsbourg) comes out looking for her other son. Tomas realizes that he had unknowingly ran him over. He is haunted by the death despite not being responsible. His relationship with Sara (Rachel McAdams) struggles as they clash over her wish for kids. Eventually, he finds love again with Ann (Marie-Josée Croze) and her daughter Mina. He tries to help Kate while Christopher is obsessed with Tomas and that fateful day.

The movie opens with a great incident but then it goes off into a series of rambling flat scenes. Everybody speaks in that flat Quebecois accented English. The story keeps skipping ahead a few years and jumping over the emotional flow. It's flat tonally. It's disjointed. There are one or two great scenes with McAdams but it's all very fleeting. The story would be more powerful staying with Sara and Kate.

Exceptionally well acted by James Franco. Beautifully layered storyline. Its storytelling is right on par with the story itself. Really modest in its presentation, but grand in its effect. Robert Naylor also deserves credit for some fine acting. I hope this piece of art won't be underrated, because the story really is just a plain portrait of life, without any fuss. It struck me, with all its characters in it. Please take note of James Franco reading his letter from teenager Christopher so beautifully human. And the score is beautiful! Its cinematography is well crafted, there to deliver. I can't see why people would think this is a pretentious presentation of camera styles.

It happens rarely that I disagree with the majority of the film critic reviews to such an extent as with this film. So, without repeating the plot here for the hundredth time, I'd like to jump straight into it: Contrary to the general feeling of slowness and flatness of the film, I feel that the story and the script called just for this sort of painfully slow, cinematic and gently nuanced filmmaking and Wenders is the master of this type of cinema. Yes, there are clichéd conversation exchanges including the somewhat melodramatic ending, however, the more alert viewer will have already been warned in advance that such will be the case in a scene right before the final sequence, so one is not surprised and can enjoy Tomas' agony to the very last second. Also, I very much enjoyed the cinematography and music, which is the best company to the lonely and painful journey Tomas is going through - a guilt and inner scar that is there to stay for life and one can only have little hope to get rid of such a stone ever. There was also a comment of one reviewer about the flatness and "lack of arc" of the female characters in the story. I disagree that this is the film's flaw - quite the contrary again - it is only very well crafted as such - as the women (actually, as well as Tomas' editor and father) only appear sort of "at the periphery" of his life, doomed never to fully understand his inner notions - a combination of a struggle as a lonely artist only topped by the tremendous guilt and pain he has to live with. The only meaningful connection he has - amazingly perverted, yet understandable at the same time - is with Kate, portrayed - yet again - so mesmerizingly by Gainsbourg, that can hardly breathe during their scenes together. The only flaw that I see in this film is the casting of Franco as Tomas. I don't really understand this choice because even though he is a great actor, this role, I feel could have been better fit to a less "boyish" actor, who could grasp all the weariness of Tomas' everyday grey and burdensome reality a bit better.. However, Franco does his best here and it shows he does get the thin line he has to walk on never to flip the character into too much melodramatic position. So, overall, quite an achievement again for Wenders and the whole crew for keeping this film balancing on the thin edge of the knife the film's tone depends on.

It just depends from what perspective you look at things. Also if you are able to be rational. And what issues that might bring to you or the people you love. Sometimes being understated can be held against you. Especially if the other person is not sure about your feelings (which you are not showing).

Something that probably will not happen to the viewers of this. Because I can imagine that you'll either love or loathe this. Either think it's pretentious and lame (slow of course too) or think it's genius in its depiction of guilt and growing up, being adult and responsible. Also cause and effect and what that means to different people. There is much to be found here. But I doubt many will find it (or even look for it). It's a tough movie overall so both arguments (bad/good movie) have their merits ... it depends on your taste and your mood, which corner you'll pick (acting wise you cannot fault it though)

Everything Will Be Fine is a small intimate movie, but suffers from an average screenplay and you can almost feel Wenders trying to bring intellectual depth to the movie. Although the center ultimately is the grieve and guilt following the death of a child in a car accident and coming to grips with that, it touches many themes which leaves the viewer purposively confused about the center and where to root himself in this movie in the first place: Broken relationships and families, stalking and a writer offering almost everything for success and coping with his remorse.

The use of 3D in the movie is sometimes quite effective. For example, the first two scenes worked well, showing dust and then snow creating a haze in the image suggesting the troubled mind of Tomas. In addition, there are other clever movie techniques at work: turning the camera in directions where you would not expect it to go (turning the camera away from the action or showing a wider angle of the situation); also making effective use of time, hopping forward frequently so the viewer has to adopt his frame of reference. Although the cinematography is not bad, you start missing the collaborations with Robby Müller producing his best movies in the past.

Gainsbourg (illustrator) I think is one of the oddest actresses around as she doesn't (or maybe can't) act. Franco (writer) is consistently clever and restrained in the movie, although you see him struggling in the first scenes. The score of Desplat is very apt for the atmosphere of the movie.

I hope Wenders finally wins his deserved first Oscar, not for this but for the excellent Salt of the Earth documentary.