Everything Must Go

The consummate comedic actor in a great dramatic performance is a trick that never seems to get old. No matter how many times this rabbit gets pulled out of the hat, audiences are no less shocked when the reigning king of funny utilizes their belly laugh-inducing arsenal of impeccable timing and delivery to instead channel deep emotion and heartfelt sincerity. Notables in this category would include Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Jim Carrey and now the latest addition, Will Ferrell.

In the film Everything Must Go, Nick Halsey (Will Ferrell) is having the worst day ever. Fired from his job of 16 years, Nick comes home to find all of his possessions scattered on his front lawn. The locks have been changed and it’s apparent that Nick’s wife has evicted him from the house, their bank accounts and their marriage. As he tries to piece together his life and fight his addiction to alcohol, he meets Kenny (Christopher Jordan Wallace, Notorious) a latchkey kid from down the street who has nothing better to do than help Nick begrudgingly sell all of his possessions. In the guise of a yard sale, Nick is able to legally “live” on his front lawn for 5 days.

This is not Ferrell’s first departure from his standard “old school” form, but it does mark his initial shot at a drama’s main character. Ferrell is able to exude the proper amount of poise in Nick that is almost completely vacant from his comedic roles. And when the story calls for it, Ferrell is still able to conjure up a few subdued laughs without sacrificing the story's tone. However, the most impressive aspect of Ferrell’s performance is his ability to use the same potent facial expressions that are usually followed by hilarity to convey an equally strong sense of uneasiness and despair while still maintaining the precise amount of levity needed for the scene.

The message this film tries to deliver is not deeply original, but the method in which Ferrell’s character deals with his problems through his worldly possessions is something very unique yet extremely relatable. In his directorial debut, Dan Rush allows the story to progress at a slow pace. This actually enhances what the film does best, exemplifying the "in between" moments in life that are usually omitted when the script is written. It’s as if the audience is a nosy neighbor watching everything unfold through the front window of another house on the block.

Another debut in this film is the performance of Christopher Jordan Wallace as Kenny Loftus. Wallace is the son of the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G. and singer Faith Evans. The only previous acting experience Wallace had was playing his father as a child in the biographical Notorious in 2009. In Everything Must Go, Wallace proves that his acting talents reach much farther, showing he is capable of filling out an original character with an inherent and vivid sense of innocence and vulnerability.

Rebecca Hall (The Town), Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) and Michael Peña (Observe and Report) head the rest of the small cast and all bring substantial depth to their characters and the story. Hall in particular who plays Samantha, the new neighbor across the street from Nick, is able to inject a sense of the outside world into a story that focuses on the narrow viewpoint of its main character. She unwittingly becomes a pseudo psychiatrist to Nick, helping him open up even at her own detriment.

Amidst the barrage of science fiction, fantasy and high-octane action sequences during the summer movie season Everything Must Go acts the palate cleansing ginger between eating sushi rolls or the table water crackers at a wine tasting. But instead of resetting the taste buds, it pulls the mind’s eye miles down from the clouds and focuses it on the few inches of life right out in front.

Story: 7.5
Acting: 8.5
Writing: 8.0
Captivation: 7.0
Replay Value: 7.0

Total = 7.6 out of 10