Everybody's Fine Reviewed at The Vigilant Monkey

When was the last time you can remember seeing a new Robert De Niro movie that didn't make you cringe with a sort of fallen idol disappointment?  Been awhile, huh?  Other than his somewhat small role in The Good Shepherd a few years back, you pretty much have to go back more than a decade to his Jackie Brown, Wag the Dog, Heat & Cop Land days.  And don't even think of getting another Travis Bickle or Rupert Pupkin outta the man from Tribeca.  Sad really.  Very sad.  De Niro still seems to be the man he always has been, and his cinephilia is more than evident with his annual film festival, but his roles are shrinking and shrinking and shrinking some more.  Perhaps, to quote Norma Desmond, it's the pictures that got small.  Whatever it is, De Niro is at it again with the extremely mediocre Everybody's Fine.  My review can be read over at The Vigilant Monkey if you really care.  I've got to be honest and say I didn't really care while I was writing it.  The film wasn't good by any stretch of the imagination, but it also wasn't so bad as to incite wrath and ire.  But I suppose it must be done.  So here it is.  I heard one person, upon leaving the theater, say they now had to go home and get the bad taste out of his mouth by watching Taxi Driver.  Go ahead and read the review, but instead of seeing the film, go home and watch Taxi Driver instead.  To cleanse your own palette, instead of posting a shot from the questionable movie in question, I give you the poster from the original Italian version.  I haven't seen that film, but it must be better, right? 

Read my review of Everybody's Fine at The Vigilant Monkey.