Everything Must Go: Film Review

Will Ferrell does a serious turn in Everything Must Go with mixed results. Playing an alcoholic at a crucial crossroad in his life, he uses his middle-age slacker persona well to convey a guy lost in his own immaturity and low self-esteem. And he nicely finds humor in an otherwise pathetic situation. But the performance is too one-note. Using an acting muscle hitherto ignored, Ferrell isn't able to track the ups-and-downs in the story's dramatic beats. Instead he falls back on physical humor and facial expressions that don't quite get to the bottom of what ails his character.