Everything Must Go Out - DVD

Movie: From one day to the next, the ideal world of Nick Halsey (Will Ferrell) falls apart. He loses his job, his company car is repossessed, his credit card is cancelled and to make matters worse, his wife throws him out the door with all his belongings. But Nick doesn't see why he should retire humiliated in the face of these low blows. Instead, he spreads out his Seven Things on the lawn in front of his house and, equipped with a few beers and the company of a nosy neighbor boy (Christopher Jordan Wallace), starts his new life. But in order to start that, he must first come to terms with his old life, and so it's soon time for everything to go!

With Everything Must Go Out, director Dan Rush has staged a very quiet mixture of drama and comedy, in which star comedian Will Ferrell finally gets to show himself from a different side. Sure, the rather subtle, heavily restrained humor of the film based on a short story by Raymond Carver might sour many fans of Ferrell's otherwise more obvious, cruder comedy. In this case, Everything Must Go, unfortunately, also leaves a dull impression, which doesn't really do the film justice.

For those who like American independent cinema will also discover some very nice moments here, which make the film well worth watching despite some lengths. How Nick is slowly freed from his stasis by his acquaintance with the boy next door Kenny and the pregnant Samantha (Rebecca Hall) and also by the reunion with Delilah (Laura Dern), the big crush of his youth, and finally dares to take the first small steps towards a new life, is very worn, but still somehow charming and also true to life realized. On the surface, there may not really be much going on in the film. But if you take a closer look, you'll realize that a whole lot has changed in the end, and not just for Nick.

Will Ferrell delivers a wonderful performance with his understated performance. As he did in the drama Winter Passing, the comedian once again manages to scale back his usual acting to such an extent that he nips any danger of letting his character degenerate into a joke in the bud. What's particularly nice is that Ferrell is thus able to convince not only in the comedic moments of the film, but also in the more serious, dramatic scenes.

Alles muss raus is admittedly a bit too ponderously told in some moments and doesn't always fully exploit the potential offered by the nice story and the great actors. Moreover, the film completely eludes the mass taste due to its very calm narrative style. But if you like it a bit slower and appreciate character-oriented dramas with a comedic touch, this movie can be recommended to you. Worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The technical realization of the film is on a good, but quite unspectacular level, which does justice to the rather quiet events. The picture is clean, the colors powerfully mixed. The overall sharpness is right, though here and there small blurs can be made out in the detail presentation. The sound is primarily dominated by the dialogue and the restrained music, here and there smaller ambient noises provide a little dynamic to the action. Good.

Extras: Except for the trailer and other programming tips from the provider, there is unfortunately no bonus material on the DVD.

Conclusion: Everything Must Go is a very quiet mix of drama and comedy that finally shows a very different Will Ferrell. If you liked him in films like Weirder Than Fiction or Winter Passing, you might also enjoy this little production. On the other hand, those who love the Will Ferrell of cruder slapstick comedies like Stepbrothers or The Somewhat Different Cops will be rather disappointed by this tragicomedy. Therefore, this home theater premiere is highly recommended primarily for lovers of small US independent films!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp