The Super Network

Dir: Dan Rush
Starring: Will Ferrell, Rebecca Hall, Michael Pena, Christopher C.J. Wallace, Glenn Howerton and Laura Dern.

The Film:
Everything Must Go is another case of going into a film completely blind, my sole knowledge of the film was based on the DVD cover. I didn’t watch a single trailer and steered clear of any other reviews. Will Ferrell is a very love him or hate him type of guy, especially in regards to his comedic roles. Stranger Than Fiction certainly changed a lot of things, as he proved he could portray serious and dramatic convincingly. This film is certainly a return to that, yet this is a much more subdued performance and unlike anything he has done previously.

The film is about Nick (Will Ferrell) we first meet him as his superior is forced to fire him due to a previous alcohol problem that has started to affect his performance. This isn’t the only sucker punch he receives that morning, he comes home to find all of his possessions thrown outside and no way in his house. His wife wants a divorce; unable to really cope with everything he parks himself in his yard and drinks. His life is crumbling around him, so he begins the task of letting everything go in order to start over.

Off the bat this is a great concept for a film, but one that shouldn’t be easy to pull off. Writer/director Dan Rush certainly pulled it off, and Everything Must Go is a highly entertaining and thought provoking film. The performances are all very good, with Ferrell being front and center. In all honestly I think he was better in Stranger Than Fiction but this performance is right up there. There was a lot to portray with the character of Nick and to do it a lot of the time without dialogue and through his actions and expressions. He does it so well, his character can easily be one to dislike but through how he played him it is difficult to feel any hatred towards him. A job well done and the film itself is certainly worth watching for his performance.

But he isn’t the only one, Christopher C.J. Wallace as the neighbour kid who befriends Nick is fantastic. I wasn’t sure how the two characters were going to work together but it came off so naturally that it worked really well. Rebecca Hall as the new neighbour was great, she is lovely and most certainly never a let down, she had great chemistry with Ferrell and it worked. The other actors did fine, Michael Pena is a solid actor and he delivered, Glenn Howerton (Best known as Dennis from It’s Always Sunny) had two scenes but he made them memorable. Laura Dern was a delight to see, and I only wish she was in it more.

At the end of the day you could do much worse than this film, it is a great watch and something I can highly recommend. At its core it is a film about finding your identity after life changing events. It expresses that your possessions aren’t who you are, they shouldn’t own you and in this day and age it is a very relevant message. It has so much to say despite how it might come across at first, I think it does so rather well and accomplishes what it set out to do.

The Australian DVD 
Audio/Video: The video is a 16:9 widescreen presentation. Can’t go wrong here, it looks fantastic and the quality is pristine, you can really appreciate all the elements at play. Audio is presented with Dolby Digital 5.1. Sound is fine, it is a quiet film but when there is dialogue it is clear, a great job..

Extras:
* Theatrical trailer

Overall Rating

Thanks to Ben from MadMan for his support.