Everything Must Go Reviews

(OK) Rush is a poor director for this Carver material. The man stuck with his things in tha yard, selling them, total looser making some friends...sans brio...

A fairly decent drama starring Will Ferrell as a man who loses everything in one day, and how he deals with it, accepts it, and moves on. Nothing overly special, or memorable once it's over, but definitely a solid film worth a watch. It's got a good story, a good cast, and was also, amongst the sadness of the man's life, entertaining in the right places.

Everything Must Go falls into the Indie comedy category, throwing Will Ferrell into the mix, playing a 40 year old guy just fired from his corporate job. He got payed very well, and has a lot of cash in his bank account. That is until he finds out his wife locked it, denying anymore transactions to come through. On top of that, all the locks to his home have been changed, including the garage. She wants him out, forcing him to camp out on his front lawn, and later having no other choice but to sell his stuff.

Now, to really enjoy this, you'll have to be one of those movie-goers into dark comedy, and a relatively depressing one at that. All the humor is dry, not set-up, and fires out of nowhere, making this film pretty interesting. Seeing Will Ferrell in a "more" serious role took some getting used to. Yes, he was the lead man in Stranger than Fiction, but excluding that, he's generally an immature and raunchy character in his movies. However, he fits this particular role pretty well. His dialogue is very different, as he plays a depressed man with nothing left to live for. He's still funny in a sense though. That just goes to prove my personal opinion, that he indeed cannot disappoint audiences, no matter the film. Bad, or good. Nick than decides to put all his belongings up, in a yard sale. He meets a "business" partner too, in a young kid in the neighborhood, who rides his bike all day. The two form a delightful friendship, showing one of the few bright spots in this film. It's a bit emotional at times, and makes "Everything Must Go" actually minorly meaningful.

The characters are pretty limited, probably what the director was going for though, showing the fact that Nick (Ferrell) has completely drifted away from social situations, his friends etc. and really just given up on his life. Everything Must Go is rather original for a lot of the duration, until he finds a new reason to continue living, in his pregnant neighbor, played by Rebecca Hall. It isn't that she doesn't perform well, she does. It's just that everything from there is very formulaic, and the story takes no new directions. Nick and his neighbor meet and greet, talk a lot more in the coming days, and eventually realize they need each other as friends, forming a close bond. That scenario is structured alright to an extent, but ultimately results in a general and overused plot device. It's enjoyable enough, just very Blah.

Albeit rather by-the-books, Everything Must Go is a fun little film to watch. Will Ferrell drives it home with his darkly funny and charming character, and for him alone I would recommend this flick. It's a nice time passer, but don't go in expecting anything out of the ordinary.

6.4/10