Writer/director Dan Rush unearths a decidedly different Will Ferrell in "Everything Must Go."
The filmmaker's feature-length debut shows that the typically annoying actor is capable of restraining himself. The problem in that is that Ferrell suddenly becomes boring. And the movie itself is equally such, with - as Chuck Berry would say - no particular place to go. And that is somewhat disappointing considering the interesting setup.
Ferrell plays Nick Halsey, a career salesman whose days of being at the top are long gone. On the same day that Nick gets fired for falling off the wagon one too many times, he returns home only to discover that his wife has left him, changed the locks on their suburban home and dumped all of his possessions out on the front yard.
So, faced with the fact that his life has completely imploded before his very eyes, Nick plops himself down in the leather recliner that his wife has thrown out on the lawn and refuses to leave - even when his neighbor calls the police on him. Fortunately for Nick, his friend and sponsor Frank Garcia (Michael Pena) is part of the police force.
Frank agrees to give Nick an opportunity to come to terms with his ordeal, granting him a license to have a yard sale over the next few days. Though reluctant to sell anything, Nick enlists a young boy (Christopher Jordan Wallace) to help him. And, at the end of the day, it may be Nick's new neighbor Samantha (Rebecca Hall) who holds the key to his return to form.
Unfortunately, Rush fails to take Nick's story anywhere of worth. "Everything Must Go" even falters as a day-in-the-life tale because its lead character is so remarkably pathetic. This critic could not find one single redeeming quality about Nick even by the time the end-credits began to roll. As a result, the whole thing just feels like an exercise in triviality.
On the positive side, Rush's story is an interesting one and probably something to which most Americans can, unfortunately, relate (though there likely came a time when they got off their butts and did something about it). Until it becomes painfully obvious that "Everything Must Go" is not really going to go anywhere - and, yes, you can tell about halfway through - the movie is is relatively interesting character study.
It is especially interesting to see Ferrell control his seemingly inherent grating qualities. He can be quite the effective actor when faced with dramatic material such as this. And Hall is even better, making the most of Rush's ultimately shallow screenplay. "Everything Must Go" is based on a short story by Raymond Carver and Rush does nothing expand upon it. Instead, he just stretches it out.
The filmmaker's feature-length debut shows that the typically annoying actor is capable of restraining himself. The problem in that is that Ferrell suddenly becomes boring. And the movie itself is equally such, with - as Chuck Berry would say - no particular place to go. And that is somewhat disappointing considering the interesting setup.
Ferrell plays Nick Halsey, a career salesman whose days of being at the top are long gone. On the same day that Nick gets fired for falling off the wagon one too many times, he returns home only to discover that his wife has left him, changed the locks on their suburban home and dumped all of his possessions out on the front yard.
So, faced with the fact that his life has completely imploded before his very eyes, Nick plops himself down in the leather recliner that his wife has thrown out on the lawn and refuses to leave - even when his neighbor calls the police on him. Fortunately for Nick, his friend and sponsor Frank Garcia (Michael Pena) is part of the police force.
Frank agrees to give Nick an opportunity to come to terms with his ordeal, granting him a license to have a yard sale over the next few days. Though reluctant to sell anything, Nick enlists a young boy (Christopher Jordan Wallace) to help him. And, at the end of the day, it may be Nick's new neighbor Samantha (Rebecca Hall) who holds the key to his return to form.
Unfortunately, Rush fails to take Nick's story anywhere of worth. "Everything Must Go" even falters as a day-in-the-life tale because its lead character is so remarkably pathetic. This critic could not find one single redeeming quality about Nick even by the time the end-credits began to roll. As a result, the whole thing just feels like an exercise in triviality.
It is especially interesting to see Ferrell control his seemingly inherent grating qualities. He can be quite the effective actor when faced with dramatic material such as this. And Hall is even better, making the most of Rush's ultimately shallow screenplay. "Everything Must Go" is based on a short story by Raymond Carver and Rush does nothing expand upon it. Instead, he just stretches it out.
