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EVERYBODY'S FINE After spending the better part of a decade mugging to the rafters in such films as The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Analyze That, Robert De Niro opts to underplay in the family melodrama Everybody's Fine. But don't let this opposite approach sucker you in: De Niro isn't low-key as much as he's merely lethargic, and it's yet one more dismissive turn from an actor who once owned a major chunk of seminal '70s cinema. De Niro stars as Frank Goode, a widower who, disappointed that all four of his grown children have canceled plans to come visit him, decides instead to surprise all of them on their own respective doorsteps. He first visits David, an artist living in New York, but David never turns up at his own apartment. Undeterred, Frank presses forward, visiting in rapid succession his daughter Amy (Kate Beckinsale), an advertising executive, his son Robert (Sam Rockwell), a symphony musician, and his other daughter Rosie (Drew Barrymore), a Vegas entertainer. It turns out that all three are hiding things from their dad -- about David as well as about themselves. Writer-director Kirk Jones makes an unhealthy number of unwise decisions, from pacing to casting to his mise en scene selections. Awkward and ill-matched, the members of the big-name cast fail to impress, although Rockwell comes closest to making his character something more than a dullard. Dramatic crises are played out in predictable fashion, with the one deviation from formula -- a climactic scene in which Frank imagines his offspring looking like children but arguing with him like adults -- proving to be disastrous. Although a remake of a 1990 Italian import starring Marcello Mastroianni, Everybody's Fine also has much in common, both thematically and narratively, with a Jack Nicholson gem from a few years back. Ultimately, though, this is less About Schmidt and more about nothing much. **
FANTASTIC MR. FOX Whatever is in the water out in Los Angeles is forcing today's most acclaimed young filmmakers to bring beloved children's books to the big screen. First it was Spike Jonze directing an adaptation of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, and now it's Wes Anderson helming a motion picture version of Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox. At this rate, can we soon expect Darren Aronofsky to tackle Dr. Seuss' Hop on Pop and Paul Thomas Anderson to serve up Arlene Mosel's Tikki Tikki Tembo? As for Anderson's stop-motion-animated opus, it's an improvement over Jonze's recent live-action effort, even if it falls short of being the new family classic dictated by the advance buzz. The mistake would be in categorizing it as a children's film, as it largely leaves out the sort of oversized humor found in movies made for the small fry. Instead, its pleasures, including Anderson's painterly compositions and the A-list vocal cast, seem more likely to win over viewers of voting age and above. George Clooney brings his usual mix of leading-man swagger and character-actor eccentricity to his interpretation of the title character, a newspaper columnist who once promised his wife (a largely wasted Meryl Streep) that he would leave behind his life of danger (i.e. stealing chickens) but instead finds himself being lured back by the prospect of sticking it to a trio of wicked farmers (the leader being voiced by Dumbledore himself, Michael Gambon). Moving to its own laid-back rhythms (an approach sure to cause seat-shuffling from those not on its wavelength), this likable lark functions as a reprieve from the plasticity of most modern 'toon flicks. It may not be fantastic, but it's good enough. ***
THE MESSENGER Writing his script with Alessandro Camon, director Oren Moverman has chosen to focus his compelling story on the stateside officers who are assigned to the US Army's Casualty Notification unit and ordered to inform family members that their loved ones have died in overseas action. The newest recruit to this unenviable position is Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), who's just returned from Iraq branded a hero for displaying courage under fire. Will is placed under veteran soldier Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), who's tasked to impart his limitless wisdom on his young charge. Tony rattles off a thorough checklist -- take care not to use certain morbid words, never touch the bereaved, and so on -- but that preparation can only go so far when faced with all manner of kinfolk, each guaranteed to react differently than the last. The sequences in which the pair make their rounds are fascinating, with some family members (like the father played by Steve Buscemi) lashing out in anger at these bearers of bad news while others simply collapse in a heap on the floor. The film also manages to inject some romance into the mix when Will, perhaps unwisely, finds himself drawn to a woman (Samantha Morton) who has just lost her husband. These scenes are tastefully executed and never shy away from the moral implications of the situation (Morton's Olivia warns Will that everyone will accuse him of preying on her vulnerability and label her a "slut"), but the real power derives from the relationship between Will and Tony, two men who approach their assignments differently yet eventually find common ground. Simply put, Foster is a revelation, while Harrelson has arguably never been better. It's their exemplary performances, combined with Moverman's confident handling of rich material, that make The Messenger worthy of our undivided attention. ***1/2