Sam: Everything Must Go is a gem, a diamond in the rough. It’s a touching, and beautiful character study on real people, with real problems. You can go anywhere – and you’ll find someone who’s faced an alcoholic – and the effects it has on their personality, their relationships, and ultimately their life. Now, ask three people about divorce – statistics show that over 50% of couples end in separation. Since you’ve covered two dramatic issues, go outside and yell about the unemployment rate – or even worse, about the people who’ve been laid off from their job because of the recession. Finally, imagine facing all three devastating predicaments, in one day.

Well, that’s exactly what has happened to Nick Halsey (Will Ferrell) in Everything Must Go. After one-too-many alcohol fueled episodes, Nick gets fired from his job as a sales executive only to come back to his middle class home in Arizona and see that all of his possessions have been put on the front yard, the locks have been changed on the house, and his wife has disappeared, never to return his continuous phone calls.

His solution – or really the only legal option he has– is to hold a yard sale. With help from a seemingly lonely and conflicted new neighbor (Rebecca Hall) and a young, business savvy (Christopher Jordan Wallace) child – Nick goes through desperate measures to reevaluate and perhaps change his immature lifestyle.

Based on a short story by Raymond Carter, Everything Must Go is deliberately paced to establish and develop the characters. Nick (Ferrell) is a good person, “that never changes”, says a friend from his high school days. Oddly enough, her brief words of wisdom are spot on. Nick is a good person. But like anyone in their lifetime, he’s made mistakes – some larger than others.

This is all accomplished by first time writer/director Dan Rush. He shows us a simplistic story, harnesses it into his own and produces a deeply moving motion picture.

And you know what? Hardly any of it feels clichéd or forced. Rush lets his film transcend nicely by not creating plot points for sentiment or lines of dialect for pity.  Sure, there’s a transformation in Nick’s character – but all of it is done with nuance and genuine compassion.

Everything Must Go leaves on a somewhat melancholy note. We see Nick finally paying his dues, respecting and giving back to those who’ve helped him through this dark time. But when The Band’s “I Shall Be Released” starts playing in the background, and the film morphs from engaging to moving, you can be rest assured that Everything Must Go is a brilliant picture. It ebbs and flows with authenticity and tenderness. And boy, like “I Shall Be Released”, it is beautiful.

A-

✭✭✭.5/✭✭✭✭

You can follow me on twitter @DukeSensation

“I’m no different than any of you, I just don’t hide in my house.”

Castor: Known mostly for his deadpan delivery as a comedian, the innately likable Will Ferrell looks to test his mettle as a dramatic actor in the melancholic and unassuming Everything Must Go. Based on Raymond Carver’s four-page short story “Why Don’t You Dance”, this anguishing slice-of-life portrait of a middle-age crisis proves to be a perfect avenue for him to showcase an unexpectedly subtle and restrained performance.

As the movie starts, Nick Halsey (Ferrell) is having the worst day of his life. He has just been fired from his job and returns home only to find that his wife has left him, locked him out of his own house and thrown all of his belongings on the front yard of their suburban Arizona home. For good measure, his joint bank account has been frozen and his company car is being repossessed. Having hit rock bottom, Nick’s only response is to relapse into alcoholism and pass out drunk on his favorite reclining chair.

Naturally, it isn’t long before the neighbors call the cops on Nick and he is told that city ordinances will only allow him to hold a “yard sale” for five days. Forced to give away his possessions, Nick has to come to terms with his limitations while striking cautious friendships with two lonely souls: the pregnant woman from across the street (the wonderful Rebecca Hall) and a boy named Kenny (the Notorious BIG’s son Christopher Jordan Wallace).

As you can tell, Everything Must Go deals with fairly dreary issues such as alcoholism, disillusion and failure. While the movie does have a fair amount of humor peppered throughout, it does wander into some sad and dark places. Clocking in at a mere 97 minutes, the movie runs fairly short but moves at a gentle and leisurely pace. The script is gentle and will sneak up on you even if the story feels a bit thin and meandering. Several threads felt unnecessary such as the touching sequence that involved Nick visiting an old girlfriend (Laura Dern) or a late plot twist involving Nick’s AA sponsor.

Thankfully, first-time writer-director Dan Rush doesn’t try too hard to redeem or make his protagonist sympathetic because he cast an innately likable actor in Will Ferrell for the part. Nick is a selfish, self-defeated and lethargic man who is constantly seen with an open can of beer in his hand. At times pitiful and prickly, he is prone to rebuff and say hurtful things even to the only kind and patient person who is willing to come near him and yet we sympathize with Nick.

Ferrell impresses in a surprisingly subtle and restrained performance. He doesn’t do anything remarkably different except downplay his comedic instincts but you can feel the rage and powerlessness seething below the surface. Wisely, Rush and Ferrell never overplay these feelings into self-pity or melodrama. In supporting roles, Wallace has a nice affecting rapport with Ferrell while Hall is wonderfully vulnerable and brings some nuance to what would have otherwise been a one-dimensional character.

This offbeat movie doesn’t really go anywhere in particular and ends on an open-ended note with little in the way of redemption. But so is life, unpredictable and devoid of a neat Hollywood ending. A low-key and modest indie, Everything Must Go shows that there is a lot more to Will Ferrell than the goofball we have grown accustomed to. Will he be able to build on it?

B

(7/10)

Notes: Rated R for language and some sexual content, 97 minutes.