Everybody's Fine (2016)

A widower who had worked away from home most of his career comes to find out that his idealized children and their lives are far more complex and complicated than he ever could have dreamed. In his desire to write a memoir based on the letters his wife sent through the years he discovers the distance between himself and his children is further than the kilometers that they live apart.

When none of his children come for the annual summer vacation at the family home after his wife’s death, he goes to surprise each one of them in the different cities where they live. All of their responses are less than enthusiastic for each is hiding a secret life. As the truth is revealed in the separate locales, they all repeat the same mantra they learned from the mother about concealing the truth from him so that he wouldn’t worry.

Most of the acting was very good in this film. Zhang Guo Li as the bewildered father who still sees his sons and daughters as small children in his mind did a superb job going from a rosy world to a more truthful reality. Shawn Dou, as the son who feels he was always the screw-up gave a heartfelt performance as well. The Swan Lake stop with the daughter who danced ballet was particularly poignant.

The only detraction from this movie were a few propaganda moments, especially a disparaging comment about Tibet.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie. The father learned the valuable lesson that when someone says they are fine, it usually means they are not, but don’t want to talk about it. The title truly sums up this family’s interactions with their father, but by erasing the façade and coming to terms with the fact that not everyone is fine, it opened the door to healing and closer relationships.

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