Friday, January 14, 2011
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Friday, January 14, 2011
MOVIE REVIEW
Every Day
When Disorder Is The Order
Of The Everyday
Brian Dennehy and Helen Hunt in "Every Day", directed by Richard Levine.
Image Entertainment
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Friday,
January 14, 2011
"Every Day" chronicles today's American family in all its spontaneity.
Richard Levine's comedy-drama opened today in New York and Los Angeles.
Liev Schreiber plays Ned, a television writer with stay-at-home wife Jeannie
(Helen Hunt) tending to her ailing, wheelchair-bound father (Brian Dennehy),
with two sons, one gay (Ezra Miller), the other highly inquisitive (Skyler
Fortgang).
Nancy Schreiber's cinematography sometimes burns with a fire orange tone that
looks at odds with the mood and content of the scenes. She isn't related
to Mr. Schreiber. "Every Day" is a run-of-the-mill film about how the most
ordinary people have the most wildest issues, while the supposedly problematic
or socially alienated appear to do just fine. In this new decade that's
hardly news, and in the last decade better films tackled this terrain more
effectively, and with better scripts and acting ("The Kids Are All Right"
(2010), "Please Give"
(2010) and "The Squid And The Whale" (2005), among others.)
Eddie Izzard is a breath of fresh air as Ned's unctuous boss, and Carla Gugino
lets Robin fly on a whim as Ned's colleague. Robin flashes those
otherworldly hazels at Ned, and for a moment it's unsettling. Ms. Gugino
uses her charm to try to untangle the uptight and unassertive Ned, who's fearful
of his son's nighttime explorations and bored with his own existence as a
husband suffocated by his ordinary, colorless life and a crusty father-in-law
clinging to his golden years. The film's mid-life crises amidst this
backdrop isn't particularly distinctive or distinguishing.
If "Every Day" looks like a television drama it's due to Mr. Levine's spare and
efficient direction. There's no cinematic flair, openness or adventure,
and the film's scope does not leave room for, or invite such, in a straight
forward story. The other reason "Every Day " feels like TV is because Mr.
Levine is the director of the cable TV drama series "Nip/Tuck", and it
occasionally looks as lurid as that series. Other times "Every Day" has a
smoky, washed out appearance. The film is unevenly layered in tone, with
more serious (and poorly lit) scenes buttressed against bright cheery tones.
Helen Hunt continues to play characters at their wits end, and remains very good
at it. She gives Jeannie a quiet authority, yet conceals her strife as she
juggles a vacant husband and a coarse father. Ms. Hunt's steady devotion
earns merit as she plays a practical person living in the present, while
everyone else is preoccupied with breaking out of their trappings or staid
lives. She seems to belong entirely in another movie. Regarding Mr.
Schreiber: it's a welcome sight to see the powerful stage actor play a more
timid type. (He was a rigid type in Tony Goldwyn's "A Walk In The Clouds".)
Still, the material betrays his character. We don't buy the journey Ned
takes in this film: it feels too convenient. Does a punch in the face
truly give one insight, or is it a metaphorical wake-up call?
The biggest weaknesses of "Every Day" are its conventions; its unconvincing sale
job of character arc. Its tidiness feels artificial as it hurtles toward
melodrama. I'm not sure that the film invites us to spend enough time
getting familiar with the characters or meaningfully rooting for or against
them. I felt indifferent about most of the characters parading through
"Every Day". That Mr. Levine's film has gone where so many others have
gone before may be the underlying reason why.
With: David Harbour, Chris Beetem, Matt Kempner, Daniel Yelsky, Daniel Farcher,
June Miller.
"Every Day" is rated R by the Motion
Picture Association Of America for language, sexual content and some drug use.
The film's running time is one hour and 33 minutes.
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