Sunday, May 29, 2011

Dan Rush: Firesale of Fortune (Everything Must Go)

The character indie drama has become the watermark for human comedy: though worn thin in recent years, all that it requires for success is, like any film, really, good acting, writing and direction. Raymond Carver has provided rich fields for directors to shape in this vein (Short Cuts).

First time scribe/helmer Dan Rush shows a strong aptitude for interpretation and sublimation with this deft, unavoidably affecting new film, Everything Must Go. Employing over the top Hollywood funnyman Will Ferrell to enact the aches and pangs of a suburbanite husband whose life comes apart at the seams, Rush shows a rich inclination for the unexpected. Ferrell is a deeply gifted dramatic actor, whose humorous frills tinge this turn with a poignancy that catches us off guard.

Adapting an obscurely slim Carver story, and populating it on the edges with superb character actors the likes of Laura Dern, Michael Pena and Rebecca Hall, Rush achieves that rare fiat; the little pseudo-indie dramedy that feels fresh and alive.

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