LFF - EVERYTHING MUST GO [2010] dir Dan Rush

EVERYTHING MUST GO is based on a Raymond Carver short story about a middle-aged man, Nick Halsey (Will Ferrell), who in the space of one day become jobless, wifeless and homeless, in his front lawn, all due to an alcohol relapse. Feeling miserable, he has five days to vacate his front yard, but has to hold a yard sale in order to be able to stay those five days. A new neighbour moves in, Samantha (Rebecca Hall), he makes friends and employs a local kid, Kenny and visits an old high school colleague, Delilah (Laura Dern). He finally sells everything he owns, finds out his wife now lives with his AA sponsor, Agent Garcia and signs his divorce. 

Needless to say, this is a rather unexpected turn by Will Ferrell; he proves his acting chops for the first time shaking off that comic awfulness he is identified with. However, he is utterly pathetic, everything that the character is, but it is so, excruciatingly. The camera work is objective and uncompromising that it is impossible to sympathise with Ferrell more and more, as he makes bigger and bigger mistakes. I don't feel the film goes anywhere specific and it is a rather pointless exercise, made more so by Ferrell's performance. I am in the fence with this one, I didn't fully enjoy it, but neither did I fully dislike it - if you do feel that there are some negative undertones to this review, it is simply that I am not a Will Ferrell fan and I find him and his face, voice, everything about him incredibly annoying.