In Everything Must Go, Will Ferrell’s Nick Halsey is a top salesman in a lucra-
tive firm having a very bad day. He’s been fired from his job, his wife changed all the
locks and security codes to his house before leaving him, all his personal stuff is
strewn across the front lawn and later on she cuts off his access to their very sizable
bank account. While you may sympathize with him initially, you soon realize that he’s
brought what might be the worst day of his life, all on himself.
It’s not because his company is downsizing or some nit wit CEO decided to bail
before a potential bankruptcy, nor is it because his wife just felt like leaving. The prob-
lem is one that many people have dealt with or are dealing with now. Drinking. Nick is
a recovering alcoholic who apparently has not fully recovered after being given so many
chances from his company and his wife. He still does practically everything with a Pabst
Blue Ribbon in his hand.
This includes, unfortunately, moping on the lawn amidst all his stuff during the
day and sleeping there at night. The police need him to move and the only friend he has
ironically is a cop named Frank Garcia (Michael Pena) who had participated in AA mee-
tings with him as his sponsor. He informs him of a city ordinance that allows him to
keep his stuff on the lawn for only five days-if he has a yard sale.
Nick does manage to pick up another buddy in the form of Kenny Loftus (Chris-
topher C.J. Wallace), rather forlorn whose home life is not exactly perfect either. They
form a bond, helping each other through their troubles. They do this by making a deal
which involves teaching Kenny how to play baseball. He also teaches Kenny a thing or
two about good salesmanship. This comes in handy for the duo when Nick is forced to
comply with the ordinance and sell everything he owns.
Ferrell has always been great as a comic; his dramatic skills are equally good
here. He’s quite convincing as a man who simply cannot stop chugging alcohol, even to
the point of a semi violent encounter at a 24 hour grocery store, then practically begging
for one outside the store from another customer.
You don’t see Ferrell’s wife throughout (just her voice over a cell phone), but
The Town’s Rebecca Hall and Jurassic Park’s Laura Dern have major and minor roles
respectively, and they elicit some of Nick’s deepest feelings. Hall’s Samantha is the
neighbor across the street, pregnant and a bit lonely since her husband goes on long bus-
iness trips. She and Nick become good friends, but not too good. Ms. Dern has a brief
turn as an old school mate, also going through some problems whom Nick looks up via
his high school year book.
Tyro director Dan Rush, who also penned the screenplay from Raymond Car-
ver’s “Why Don’t You Dance”, is a new and noteworthy talent to be reckoned with. It
should be no surprise to anyone that we’ll probably be seeing much more from him.
Some first timers don’t exactly get it right the first time. Rush does. He proves here that
story matters above all, it’s what keeps your audience watching your films.
It’s always been a shame that good independent films like Everything Must Go
are always overshadowed by the financially muscled “blockbusters” dominating the in-
dustry. However as aptly illustrated by Ferrell’s Nick Halsey, there’s always hope for a
brighter future despite major drawbacks.