Everybody's Fine

• Kaleem Aftab
• 17 February 2010

(12A) 99min

Robert De Niro drags his grumpy old man routine into this well-meaning but utterly dull remake of Giuseppe Cinema Paradiso Tornatore’s Stanno Tutti Bene (1990). De Niro has plenty of reason to put on his over-familiar raised eyebrows and trademark gurn as he realises that since his wife kicked the bucket his four adult kids don’t really spend anytime with him. Surprise, surprise his papa Goode decides to pay surprise visits on his four bambinos. He doesn’t like flying so he has to make the journey on the ground from New York to Chicago, Denver and Las Vegas.

The messy flashbacks highlight what a cantankerous dad Goode was and even today his kids still fear him more than they love him. Amy (Kate Beckinsdale) his high-powered executive daughter is hiding her failed marriage, musician Robert (Sam Rockwell) has dad believing he’s a conductor; dancer Rosie (Drew Barrymore) has a secret so huge it’s preposterous. For no good reason British director Kirk Jones (Waking Ned, Nanny McPhee) overplays the sentiment, but the greater mystery here is how a great and experienced actor like De Niro continues to play with amateurs.

General release from Fri 26 Feb.