Everything, Everything — 3.5 Gavels 45% Rotten Tomatoes

What choices! Gut busting horror (Alien per Enquirer) or some Wimpy Kid. Stay home or see a movie that repeats itself. OK! OK! Everything, Everything it is, somewhat by default. Billed as an awkward, teen love movie, it turns out to be more. But first, having lost your husband and son, what lengths would you go to protect your sick, baby daughter? Would you keep her inside for her entire life to protect her immune deficient body? Could you afford it? Could you not afford it? And what happens when that good-looking young man moves in next door and becomes interested in your cute daughter? How do you keep them apart, especially when you know there will be consequences? While this movie presents some interesting questions, you will likely be unhappy with the plot devices used to answer them. This movie is saved by the two main characters who are quite likable. Amandla Steinberg (Rue in Hunger Games) as the sick teen and Nick Robinson (Jurassic World) as the boy next door must find love through windows, the phone and the internet. The overprotective mother, played by Anika Noni Rose (the voice of Princess Tiana in The Princess and the Frog), as you might imagine, is not likable. While the critics describe this as a movie for 14 year old girls, I found it to be a nice distraction given this season of action, aliens, violence and more dead bodies than one can count. Judging from the crowd reaction, your wife and daughter will like it, too. I did not like the plot twist at the end, but given my former professions, I found it plausible. (Note: There are additional criticisms of the portrayal of the disease by the medical community.) The question for you is whether you will see this $10 million movie or wait for next week’s big budget, wild and raunchy, Baywatch?

Leave a Reply