Everything Must Go (Blu-ray)
Let the record show that Nick Halsey will NOT be going down as one of Will Ferrell’s more memorable characters in his vast repertoire. In fact, the plot of EVERYTHING MUST GO probably would have benefited from a little Ron Burgundy. And just when he’s on the cusp of a laughable Ricky Bobby one-liner, the moment is gone and the audience is left with Ferrell standing in the yard with a Pabst Blue Ribbon in his hand.
Within the first minutes of EVERYTHING MUST GO, Nick Halsey (Ferrell) has been let go from his regional sales job because he is unable to cope with his drinking. He drives to the nearest convenient store, purchasing enough beer for a small party. When he arrives home, his soon-to-be ex-wife has changed the locks and left him with 20+ years of his worldly possessions scattered all around the Lazy-Boy in the front lawn. Thank goodness the mini fridge is located near the tiki torches so the beer can remain lukewarm.
Instead of coping, Halsey chooses to have a mid-life crisis among the cardboard boxes full of old vinyl records. Each day is the same routine. Sleep, drink, arrange the junk, drink, mope and drink. Finally, his AA sponsor Detective Frank Garcia (Michael Pena) convinces him to start over by selling his stuff in a yard sale. He finds an unlikely co-partner in the form of Kenny (Christopher Jordan Wallace), a young nosey kid down the street with killer salesman instincts that definitely come in handy.
One would assume that Ferrell’s character being drunk for the majority of the movie would help define the genre a bit. However, relieving one’s self in a koi pond does not a comedy make. True, there were times he was sort of funny. I found myself excited at what was about to unfold and then disappointed when nothing ever did. The moments when I began to feel sorry for his character often fell flat. I can see where the writers were shooting for a dramedy script, but they missed the mark completely.
Kenny was the life of the film. He was charming, witty and stole almost every scene he was in. He has a natural ability to pull the audience into the story without it feeling forced. Again, it was a breath of fresh air when he visited Nick because there’s only so much re-arranging of random life memories that the audience can take before we entertain thoughts of completely checking out. Which I did. On days three and four in the front yard.
The plots involving the other neighbors seemed underdeveloped. I didn’t care for their stories. In fact, I often wondered why no one suggested to Nick that he move all his stuff into the back yard? From the koi pond incident, we knew he could get back there. The fact that his public break-up was displayed for all the neighborhood to see and hardly anyone had a problem with it seemed unlikely to me. And if they are all neighborly friends, I can only assume that someone from the cul-de-sac would have offered a kind word.
EVERYTHING MUST GO has a few glimmering moments of a decent film. I wanted Nick to grow from this experience. His life is sprawled out for everyone to see. He’s exposed. I was rooting for Ferrell to succeed. Perhaps if they had used more cowbell, we would have had a winner on our hands.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: 1080p High Definition: The most interesting part was spotting new pieces of junk among the yard sale items. The prop department did an amazing job.
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio: I mostly noticed the soundtrack, since a lot of the movie was without dialog. Again, Ferrell wanders around the junk pile.
Commentary with Dan Rush and Michael Pena: The participants talk about what a wonderful job Will Ferrell did and how he was out of his comfort zone. They talked about how “fine” the across the street neighbor girl was and how they prefer non-dialog acting.
In Character with Will Ferrell Featurette (8:34): Ferrell talks about how he is never offered roles in this genre. He talks about how he jumped at the chance to play a character that is grey. He felt he brought his dramatic A-game. I think A-game is a bit ambitious.
Behind the Scenes Featurette (10:31): The featurette shows all of the most “dramatic” parts of the movie. You can probably watch this 10-minute recap and pass a test that you actually watched the movie.
Deleted Scenes: Nick Gets Fired (extended version), Specialist Series, Nick Callas a Hooker, Kenny Makes a Tough Face, Nick’s New Apartment: The deleted scenes are not worth watching. They offer no insight or value to the film.
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