Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

So many problems, it's a wonder any family copes? They strive, they work their way through?There is unpleasantness, we see it coming, we watch it develop, but the director keeps the scenes short, so the unpleasantness fades and we move on to the next scary issue. That's a great way to deal with it.So, why the 10 rating? Because it is so real. They are real problems, a real story of coping, real people. And my other requirements for a 10, some especially good scenes, and examples of really good dialogue. It's all here.Ned (Schreiber) is a writer for a shock-horror TV show, and must be quite good at it, even though he doesn't really like the attitudes. He is trying to cope with eldest son who wants to go to a 'gay prom'. That would try any parent. His wife (Hunt) has her father (Dennehy) come to live with them. He is declining, and demanding. Very unpleasant mostly. Scary too, we all will (or might) get old and others will have to cope.The plot has the potential to go really awful, but great directing and superb acting achieve so much. Any of us could face similar issues, and how would we cope? Badly maybe.Getting the best from child actors takes patience, persistence and careful guidance - director Levine has done a great job here. And Levine has written some great lines too, Ernie at the rest home... "We're all just visiting". A profound thought for us to ponder.Although the DVD blurb says 'fast and funny', there is only one really funny part - when Ned at first says his cut face came from hitting his steering wheel, but then he explains the real reason and you should see the surprise on the faces of his boss and work colleagues! Great.

What if what you thought you were missing in life you already had? A writer for a TV show, Ned (Schreiber) is stuck in a job where his boss demands more and more strange things. His wife Jeannie (Helen Hunt) has just brought her father home to take care of. His son is gay and Ned is trying to avoid admitting it, and his co-worker (Gugino) is another reason his life is spinning out of control. So many movies and TV shows come out that claim to be true to life, or "Reality Shows", they usually turn out to be so over the top they end up borderline spoofing the stars. This is one huge exception. While not being a reality show at all, this is the most true to life movie I have seen in a while. It was depressing in parts, but again because it seemed like they just took a family and watched how they live and made a movie from it, without changing anything. Ned is stuck trying to sort out what his life has become that he finds himself trying to be someone he isn't. This movie is another glaring example of how unless you have a $200 million budget and your movie make $400 million in theaters you will get no recognition or advertising. There are no big name stars in here like Tom Cruise or Katherine Heigle, and because of only casting good actors and relying on script and acting, it gets overlooked. Which is a travesty. I give it an A.Would I watch again? - Yes I would, but again it would lose some of the effect.

I was attracted to this film by the talented, no, the very talented cast. The lead roles and sporting roles were played superbly. It is not too sad but as sad as life generally has in store for all of us at some point, or in store for people close to us, close enough. The realism delivered by Brian Dennehy and Helen Hunt is as good as and better than any performances by other Oscar winners of this year and past. Liev Schreiber took on a most difficult role to play from beginning to end given the changes in the story's context that pertained to his character. He manages to stay the course, making the right moves so subtly that you have no reservation and no question about what feelings he conveys or even why the character is experiencing such feelings. Think about it. He uses very few words, his body language and facial expression never exaggerating the emotion but letting you know exactly what it is and what prompted it. His character is not transformed, it merely experiences what life has thrown in his path; his character proves to be a rock, not a saint. Ezra Miller and Skyler Fortgang play Hunt and Schreiber's sons and acquit themselves as well as the director could surely have hoped for, no less. They also make you believe what experience their characters are going through; the performances are not overdone, they are on the mark. We understand exactly what they feel. The sultry Carla Gugino plays her role very well; you don't hate her flawed character, you understand it and don't feel compelled to judge. I will now use a famous quote which I hope summarizes the parable I saw in the film, which is: Life unfolds as it should. I will recommend it to movie lovers who seek more from movies than the average audience. More of my friends will disagree than agree, but then again it takes a while to develop a taste refined enough for this genre of drama and this quality performance.

"Every Day" tells the tale of a couple going through a midlife crisis. Ned (Liev Schreiber), is a man on the brink of a mental breakdown. You see life isn't easy for Ned as he is dealing with a boat load of problems. He is bored with his screen writing job, he is dealing with trying to accept that his son Jonah (Ezra Miller) is gay, and on top of all this his marriage is falling apart. His wife Jeannie (Helen Hunt) has her own issues as she is responsible for taking care of her father Ernie (Brian Dennehy) who is dying and trying to save her marriage with her husband Ned who doesn't seem to give her the time of day. Life isn't easy for Ned and Jeannie but what happens in "Every Day" is an interesting look on the subject of marriage and life in general.I saw "Every Day" at the "World Premiere" screening at the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday April 24, 2010. I basically went into this film knowing nothing about it other than the fact that it starred Helen Hunt, Carla Gugino, and Liev Schreiber all of which are solid actors. What I got out of the film was an interesting look at life and marriage written by a man named Richard Levine, who is a first time screen writer and director.One of my favorite things about the film was the whole workplace scenario that Ned was placed in. This subplot to me proved to be realistic. This was one of those films where I felt it did a good job capturing how too much work can destroy your life outside of work. It also shows that life as an adult isn't easy and is a balancing act with everything that gets thrown your way. The subjects of marriage, having children, having a sick parent, cheating, working too much, and a few other subjects all get looked at in the film.My problem however with the film was that I wasn't sure what was going on in the end of the film. It felt like the movie had a conclusion but it really didn't. I guess the film had one of those "life happens" endings. The subject matter of cheating was never really talked about, which bothered me because it seemed to be one of the key focuses of the film. While the film itself felt real like these characters exist in the real world something about how everything ended did not. I can't really explain it but its just something that blurred the line of fiction and reality. I like that aspect of it and I didn't at the same time.The characters were all good as well as the development of them. Liev Schreiber did a great job in the lead role. I really felt his struggles as a parent and as a married man to devote his time to the right people. Helen Hunt does a good job as well dealing with her marriage and with her father's obsession with wanting to die. Brian Dennehy performance is solid but that's no surprise because he has been a solid actor for many years now. You really did however feel for what he was going through. Carla Gugino makes a nice supporting role appearance here, playing the sexy "screen writer" with her eye on Ned. Carla's role really isn't as deep as I would have liked it to be but Carla has a knack for playing the sexy coworker role. She was perfectly cast to play the role she played. The kids Ezra Miller and Skyler Fortgang both do a terrific job on screen and I am sure they will have a lot more roles coming their way in the near future.In the end...I liked the film for what it was. It had some issues here and there but coming from a first time writer and director that was bound to happen. It was a valid effort and the film itself is interesting and realistic for the most part. The acting was good and the roles were well written. As I mentioned above, some things about the film blurred the lines between reality and fiction. The film's ending is its weakness in my humble opinion. Not saying that it was bad but just didn't impress me and left me rather indifferent about what I just watched. All in all, I would recommend it because it was a solid film about life and the famous midlife crisis. Check it out when it hits theaters! MovieManMenzel's final rating for "Every Day" is a 7 out of 10.