Every Thing Will Be Fine

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.

with an interesting ending.

James Franco as writer Thomas Eldan is pulling on all of his mystery moody self (as he so expertly did in 'Shadows & Lies') but here in this movie - not so much. It's a long haul story of him having to cope with a tragic accident on a very snowy day. He suffers, his wife suffers, his career suffers, other people suffer .... there is a lot of emotional suffering going on here. And it continues for about 12 years (if I correctly recall). Eventually he returns to the surface of life and the suffering and guilt seem to have past. Unfortunately the past comes back, only this time as an adult. This is where the story becomes interesting because there is a level of tension and unknown intentions. Will there be another tragedy? Will there be revenge? The situation becomes edgy! You will have to watch to see what happens.

Director: Wim Wenders (in my opinion) fails to project out to the viewer the misery Thomas Eldan must suffer because Franco really doesn't seem to care. It's just a part - act it out. Which doesn't make this an altogether bad movie, it just makes it long. And Wim Wenders is a famous director!

Wim Wenders became known as one of the leaders of New German Cinema in the 1970s. His work includes "The American Friend", "Until the End of the World" and "Buena Vista Social Club". "Every Thing Will Be Fine" is a very different turn for him. This look at the effect that a tragedy has on a writer (James Franco) takes a while to get going. Wenders's previous movies often looked at political issues, but this is more of a psychological drama. It comes across as flat. It's not terrible, but I expect more from Wenders.

Basically, I recommend Wenders's other movies. "Until the End of the World" is his best. Probably one of the greatest movies ever made.

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.

This film tells the story of a writer who accidentally kills a boy in a traffic accident. He spends many years of his life dealing and coping with the tragedy he caused.

I find the story non-happening, the pace super slow and the acting poor. The script is so poor that I rolled my eyes at the scene where Rachel McAdams slapped James Franco, then when she did it the second time I laughed because it was like a mother slapping a child. Even with Charlotte Gainsbourg's supposedly open heart, it is still very unbelievable that they could spend an afternoon together in embrace.

The actors and actresses all look lethargic and emotionless, even in supposedly emotional scenes. They look more like sleepwalking than acting. Rachel McAdams' fake accent is quite a pain to the ears, I don't know what that accent is supposed to be or what it signifies, but it does not add anything to the film. "Every Thing Will Be Fine" is not fine, in fact it is really horrendous. You should consider yourself lucky that you have not had a chance to watch it.