'Everything Must Go'

'Everything Must Go' (R) (3 stars)

Written by Dan Rush based on a short story "Why Don't You Dance" by Raymond Carver
Directed by Dan Rush
Starring: Will Ferrell, Rebecca Hall, Christopher Jordan Wallace, Laura Dern,
Michael Pena

"Everything Must Go" shows a different side of Will Ferrell that we have seen before. He has gone the serious route in a light way in "Stranger Than Fiction". This time he is in a more melancholy movie that might test a viewer's patience. The movie is not about anything deep and it takes it's time but Will Ferrell is amazing! His performance should definitely be looked at for award consideration.

"Everything Must Go" tells the story of Nick Halsey who is an executive who has just been fired. He is also a recovering alcoholic who relapses after he is fired and comes home to find out his wife has left him and left his belongings on the front lawn. She changes the locks and through a few freak events his car is repossessed. He is lost at first but a young neighbor kid comes along and Nick recruits him to help him. Nick wants to have a garage sale of his possessions and get his life back in order.

Nick also meets a pregnant wife who lives across the street from him. Her name is Samantha played by the wonderful Rebecca Hall. There is an attraction and connection there but at first everything comes off awkward. They develop a friendship and go to dinner but their relationship is rocky sometimes. As the movie settles down not much happens after the first half hour. This is not a very deep or great movie but I loved it for Rebecca Hall and the kid played by the appealing Christopher Jordan Wallace.

The movie affected me mostly by seeing how wonderful Will Ferrell's performance is. This is one of the best portrayls of a recovering alcoholic reminding me of my favorite portrayl of an alcoholic by Micheal Keaton in 1988's "Clean and Sober". That is the best performance ever and Will Ferrell is almost as great. It is a tender performance, subtle, impeccable and touching. I would love to see Ferrell balance his funny blockbusters with rewarding dramas like this. Yes he will be compared to a Jim Carrey or a Robin Williams or other comedic actors who have stretched with dramatic roles. We must not forget the fact that Ferrell can do this drama thing in his sleep, he has already accomplished it. What is so great is you will forget that this is Will Ferrell after about 10 minutes.