EVERYTHING MUST GO Blu-ray Review

Lionsgate Home Entertainment:

"Will Ferrell shines" (Detroit News) as Nick, a career salesman who loses his wife and his job in the worst day of his life. Faced with his life imploding, Nick puts it all on the line - or, rather, on the lawn - as he moves himself and all his possessions to his front yard. Based on the short story by Raymond Carver, EVERYTHING MUST GO is "Will Ferrell as you've never seen him" (Rolling Stone) in this unflinching comedy about what happens after life falls apart.

Everything Must Go is really good. It is not, as the blurb says, "Will Ferrell as you've never seen him," it is Will Ferrell as you've seen him if you've been paying attention.  A lot was made of Everything Must Go being a breakout dramatic role for Ferrell, and that this would be the film that showed people he was a real actor.  That ship has sailed, the same thing was said about Stranger than Fiction, and that was five years ago.  The problem is that neither film was straight drama, both were black comedies, and it shouldn't be a surprise that Ferrell is able to hold his own in that capacity. I'm in extreme danger of going on a tangent beyond the necessary scope of this review, so I'll digress.

Everything Must Go is a black comedy about a man who loses everything all at once.  He is fired from his job and abandoned by his wife, whom he had abandoned due to his alcoholism, all in the space of a couple of hours.  He must find a way to cope with his loss, initially, he just gives up, which I must admit is an appealing idea when faced with that kind of loss.  Through the help of a "magical negro"*, in this case Kenny (played by young CJ Wallace, son of The Notorious B.I.G.), Ferrell's Halsey realizes that his life isn't as worthless as it seems.  Halsey's abandonment of hope is intercepted at key points by Kenny, his new neighbor Samantha (Rebecca Hall), and his friend Detective Frank Garcia (Michael Pena). 

My main problem with Everything Must Go isn't Ferrell's performance, which is great, but the convenient way things wrap up in the end.  Everyone learns their lesson and becomes a better person, the sun shines and all is right with the world.  The ending is contrived, the idea that a man who is in the active process of hitting rock bottom, not only with twin losses of love and livelihood, but also the loss of his sobriety, could turn everything around in five days is pretty ridiculous.  I'm sorry if you think that is a spoiler, but it hit a sour note with me. 

Everything Must Go is a great piece for Ferrell's already solid resume, though I do look forward to the day when he goes big in a true drama.  The guy has chops, and it is only a matter of time, hopefully, before he gets his Awakenings/Good Will Hunting and people realize that Will Ferrell is the real deal.  Watch Everything Must Go for Will, but don't go in expecting the best dramedy of the year, or you'll be a little miffed when the final credits roll.

The Disc:

Lionsgate's Blu-ray of Everything Must Go is very good.  This isn't a very flashy film, so it won't put your home theater to the test, but its attributes are treated soundly and I have no complaints. The picture is solid and sharp with good deep blacks and excellent treatment of shadow detail, which is good since much of the film takes place outside at night.  The audio is equally adequate, treating the dialogue well.  The dialogue is the main audio feature of the film and I was impressed by the clean, crisp audio from this disc.

Lionsgate have thrown a few fluffy extras on here, nothing really too in-depth, but interesting if you liked the film.  First is a feature commentary with Dan Rush and Michael Pena, the commentary is solid, but not particularly revelatory and probably would've been a lot more fun with Ferrell.  There are also a couple of behind the scenes featurettes, nothing too long though.  First up is Will Ferrell In Character, which is what it sounds like, about 10 minutes of Will Ferrell talking about his character and other people talking about how well he plays it.  Then there is the Making Of featurette, which is much the same kind of thing, only with people talking about how wonderful Dan Rush and his script are.  Both feel like strictly EPK material, and are therefore a bit boring.  Lionsgate also gives us a few trailers for other upcoming Blu-ray discs.

I really liked the film if you discount the Hollywood ending.  Ferrell needs more meaty roles like this.  Lionsgate did right by this film, this Blu-ray comes recommended.