Everything Must Go

Based on a short story by Raymond Carver, Everything Must Go casts Will Ferrell as Nicolas Halsey – an alcoholic executive who arrives home after losing his job to discover that his wife has locked him out of the house and thrown all his stuff on the lawn. Nicolas subsequently spends the next several days on the lawn trying to make sense of his life, with his efforts assisted by a number of curious neighbors and passers by. Director Dan Rush has infused Everything Must Go with an extremely low-key sensibility that’s certainly reflected in the film’s consistently deliberate pace, with Ferrell’s personable and charismatic performance certainly proving instrumental in initially capturing the viewer’s interest. Ferrell’s surprisingly strong work ultimately anchors the entirety of the proceedings, and it’s worth noting that the actor never shies away from portraying his character’s alcoholism and sporadically mean-spirited personality. The decidedly (and unapologetically) uneventful vibe – Nicolas really does spend the majority of the proceedings on that lawn, after all – is punctuated by the presence of a few compelling stand alone interludes, with Nicolas’ visit with an old high school friend (Laura Dern’s Delilah) undoubtedly standing as the movie’s emotional high point. Despite the meandering narrative, however, Everything Must Go does remain surprisingly watchable for the most part – with the film’s only real misstep a final 15-minute stretch that ultimately feels a little needless (ie the movie reaches a point where it could logically, and satisfactorily, conclude, and yet it keeps chugging along). In the end, Everything Must Go is far more effective as a showcase for Ferrell’s surprising and engrossing performance – as the film proves that he can be quite effective when he’s not acting like an over-the-top buffoon.

**1/2 out of ****