Frank wanted the holidays to be picture perfect. What he got was family.

An older man decides to spend time with his children, however his children each have different plans in mind. He soon realizes his children aren't as successful as they claim to be. He also discovers they are hiding other secrets too. This is a super good movie and a tear jerker so get your your pop corn, get your easy chair, and don't forget tissues.====================================================================================New synopsis - kc1736Frank Goode (Robert de Niro) has been widowed for 8 months and recently retired from a career, ironically as it turns out, in the communications industry, and in particular with the PVC cladding of telegraph wires. As a result, however, he has developed fibrosis of the lungs for which he is receiving medication.He is tidying up his house and garden and buying in steaks and expensive wine to entertain the coming weekend his 4 children Amy, Robert, Rosie and David. While setting up a new barbecue later that night, he answers a call from Robert who apologises for not being able to make the reunion as he is on tour with his orchestra. On an impulse Frank replays his ansaphone messages and hears the rest of his family have also cried off.Deflated at first, Frank decides to pay them all a surprise visit, much against the advice of his doctor who says he needs to rest.His first trip is a train ride to New York City to see David, during which he explains to a bemused passenger that he has been responsible for the PVC coating of the telephone cables they can see from the train, carrying good and bad news over the world. From his conversations, he has pushed his four children to succeed in their chosen field, with particular concern for his son David. He arrives late at night at David's flat but there is no reply. To pass the time, he takes a walk and passes a gallery where he sees a painting in the window painted by David. He eventually leaves a note and photograph under the door of David's flat.Next is a coach ride to Chicago to see daughter Amy (Kate Beckinsale). This time as he passes the cables, we eavesdrop on conversations and hear Amy calling Rosie (Drew Barrymore) saying David had been arrested in Mexico and they decided not to tell their Dad until more details were known.To Amy's surprise he turns up at her house where she lives with her son Jack. After a couple of calls her husband arrives for a very strained evening meal where Jack is very off hand with his father. Frank says he was planning to stay a couple of days but Amy puts him off saying all three were due to be away. In reality she had booked a flight next day for Mexico to look for David.On the way to the train station next morning, Frank reproaches Amy for not telling him that Jack had been struggling recently at school she had always said he was top of the class. However he's pleased to witness she seems well thought of at work. At the train station, after watching Amy on her mobile chatting happily, Frank feels good at seeing her laugh. They are joined apparently out of the blue by Tom, one of her creative directors. Frank notices Amy and Tom seem at ease with each other.Despite being made to promise she wouldn't, Amy rings Robert in Denver to warn him of Dad's imminent arrival. She tells Robert that she has found out David has been arrested on a drug related charge. She later says the prison are giving her a bit of a run around and she still has not seen him.Frank arrives in Denver and sees a poster of the orchestra outside the rehearsal building and takes pictures of it, believing his son to be the conductor. He subsequently learns that he is the percussionist and in their conversation Robert tells his Dad he's perfectly happy - he's realised he is not super talented and has found his level. He then tells Frank he is really sorry he is flying out to Europe that afternoon on tour so cannot have Frank staying with him. He also explains that the kids did feel under pressure to make their Dad proud and do the best they can.Again despite his Dad's request, Robert rings Lucy to warn her he's coming. He explains to her he just couldn't face having his Dad staying, as he did not know how to talk to him. He warns her that Dad is asking after David.On the way to Lucy's, Frank tries to ring David again but the phone keeps ringing and the camera pans back to reveal an unoccupied room.Frank messes up the time differences and misses his connection. A friendly female trucker, also having recently lost her spouse, gives him a lift to Reno. As they chat, she says tellingly that truth isn't what people want to hear. It's still early morning when she drops him off at Reno and in the almost deserted station, he gives money to a young vagrant. He becomes irritated that the vagrant doesn't say thank you and the vagrant reacts by trying to grab all of Frank's money. In the tussle that followed, Frank's medication drops on the floor and the vagrant, seeing Frank's concern, smashes the bottle and runs off. Frank tries to scrape up as much of the remains as possible.He gets the train to Las Vegas and dreams of a conversation with David as a youngster, telling him that he's the one he worries most about. Rosie meets Frank at the train station who is again disappointed it wasn't a surprise. She is in a stretch limo, which impresses Frank. She spins a tale about her being a dancer in a successful show and that she would ring him when the next show came along. She takes her Dad to a swanky flat, She has booked an evening meal out for them but a friend Jilly turns up with a baby saying she has to pick up someone from the airport -could they look after the baby for a few hours? In the end they do not go out but stay in to look after the baby. During the evening the phone rings but Rosie is busy with the baby. Frank overhears the ansaphone message from the real flat owner saying he needs his flat back.Frank then decides to cut short his trip and return home as he's short of medication. Rosie is the one child who tries to persuade him to stay and over dinner that evening they have a telling conversation. He complains that when his wife was alive, they would speak hours to her but if he answered the phone would say Hi Dad is Mum in? Rosie said Mum was a good listener - he was a good talker. She said as a dad he pushed them hard, especially David. It transpired Frank never had plans for his own life, but he felt his duty as a good father was to encourage his children to get the most out of their lives.Rosie drops him off at the airport and as Frank flies off, Amy calls her to say David had been caught buying drugs in a bar and, facing arrest, had panicked and swallowed them. He was in hospital but again she had still been fobbed off from seeing him.On the plane Frank has a heart attack just before they land and he is taken to hospital. He has a vision of him taking the day off to talk to his children (depicted as youngsters). He berates Amy for not telling of her marriage break-up and her new beau Tom. He berates Robert for not letting him stay as the poster did not show a tour. (Robert says that the truth is - there are lots of things neither they or Mum told him). He berates Rosie because the baby was hers and the girl was her partner to which Rosie replies that Mum was sick and she didn't want to disappoint him. Finally he berates David for moving flats and when David laughs at him, he loses his rag saying that was why he was hard on him he needed to learn respect. He asks them what on earth can he now say to their mother and the young Rosie replies "Tell her nothing if you love her as she loves you - tell her what she wants to hear - tell her were all fine".He wakes up in the ward and Amy, Robert and Lucy are there. After he presses them, they sorrowfully tell him David has died of an overdose. He can't accept that and breaks down. Later that night he imagines David being there, as a youngster, telling him it was not his fault.Frank is discharged and is at home opening a package containing David's belongings. He goes back to the shop to buy David's painting but it has been sold. The gallery assistant recognises his surname and takes him to the storeroom to see if they have another. There is one - a picture of the home landscape with telegraph poles. She tells him that David always said without his father's push, he would never have become an artist.Frank goes to his wife's grave and talks it all out.The following Christmas he is hosting the weekend for his family. He insists on being in charge of the turkey whilst Amy (with son Jack and new partner Tom), Rosie (with partner Jilly and baby) and Robert help or relax. When they try to interfere with the turkey preparations, Frank says his wife undercooked the turkey in their 41 years of married life but he hadn't the heart to tell her. Rosie gives him a hug and the others smile.They sit down to the meal and Frank smiles as he looks around the table. His family was making it in the world and he could be proud of their achievements. He would have to say in all honesty that "everybody's fine, everybodys fine". Cue Sir Paul McCartney with an apt song over the credits.

Orig. title:

Everybody's Fine

Genre: Adventure, Drama

Directed by: Kirk Jones

Starring: Robert De Niro (Frank Goode), Drew Barrymore (Rosie), Kate Beckinsale (Amy), Sam Rockwell (Robert), Lucian Maisel (Jack), Damian Young (Jeff)

Screenplay: Massimo De Rita, Tonino Guerra, Giuseppe Tornatore, Kirk Jones

Country: USA, Italy

Year: 2009

Score: 71 %