Not a perfect film by any means, but some lovely moments to take in on a Sunday afternoon. Will Ferrell shows he is more than just a ham and the support cast put in perfectly satisfactory performances.
Structurally, the film takes too long to get going and then ends before it should (Laura Dern, hint hint). All screenwriting books caution against creating passive protagonists and this film is why. If Nick had DONE more instead of being DONE TO, and if the story began 20 minutes into the actual film, it may have been a far greater piece of cinema.
As I say though, for a Sunday afternoon, there are far less appealing efforts than Everything Must Go.
by Paul Barry
