Every Day Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Every Day Blu-ray Movie Review

A dour take on the Modern Family.

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater March 16, 2011

The so-called Sandwich Generation has it rough. Raising a kid is never easy, and caring for an ailing elderly parent is a full-time job, so when a middle- aged couple is challenged to do both simultaneously—to handle the varied demands of a hormonal teenager and an incontinent geriatric— marital strains are inevitable. This is the subject of Every Day, a dour indie drama and the feature film debut of Nip/Tuck writer/director Richard Levine.

From the start, you sense autobiographical elements creeping into the story. Levine has parlayed his own experience penning scripts for a racy TV show into the life of the film’s protagonist, Ned (Leiv Schreiber), a writer for a basic cable doctorsploitation series called “Mercy Medical.” But there’s nothing merciful about it. Show-runner Garrett (Eddie Izzard), a catty gay man and Ned’s iron-fisted boss, has a mantra he repeats often in the writers’ room: “Shock me.” He wants each episode of Mercy to boast at least five offensive plot twists. “My straight friends tell me anal is the new oral,” he suggests during a meeting. An upstart writer, trying to win Garrett’s favor, ups the ante to bestiality: “Sex with one’s dog is the new sex with one’s cat.” Garrett loves it. Clearly, no idea is too outré. Ned, however, sees this provocative trash for what it is—irredeemable schlock—and he’s lost all passion for his work.

But that’s not the only passion that’s been extinguished. After nineteen years with his wife, Jeannie (Helen Hunt), their marriage has reached a point where intimacy is practically non-existent. They’re both too caught up with the hectic trivialities of upper-middle class life to spend much meaningful time together. Their eldest son, 15-year-old Jonah (Ezra Miller), has recently come out of the closet and is pressuring his parents to let him attend a gay and lesbian prom for high school and college students. Ned balks, afraid—in the end, rightfully—that Jonah might be targeted by an older, predatory man. He’s clearly uncomfortable with his son’s sexuality; he’s accepting, and he wants the best for Jonah, but he has no clue how to relate. If the film has one success, it’s in the way it examines a relatively new cultural dynamic—the generational divide between outed gay kids and their staunchly straight parents, who grew up in a time when being homosexual was much more heavily stigmatized. (See also: the relationship between effeminate fashionista Kurt and his blue collar father on TV’s Glee.)

Of course, the other cultural concern at play here is the difficulty of caring for an aging, infirmed parent. The film gets going when Jeannie’s widowed father, Ernie (Brian Dennehy)—a crotchety life-loather who just wants to up and die—moves into the house and causes a constant fuss. Between Ernie’s doctor’s appointments, suicide attempts, and incontrollable bowels, Jeannie is driven into a harried depression and Ned disappears into the job that he hates, suffering from equal doses of writer’s block and sexual frustration. The complications that follow are exactly as expected. Ned finds himself tempted by a flirty, pot-smoking co-worker (Carla Gugino), and before he knows it, she’s unbuckling his belt. (“Just think of it as a creative release,” she justifies.) Jeannie, still beautiful but aware that she’s not getting any younger, seems to suspect something’s up, but she’s got her hands full with her bitter, ungrateful father. It gets to the point where she has to consider placing him in a home—a decision that could cost the family several thousand dollars a month. Meanwhile, out from the watchful eye of his too-busy parents, Jonah gets in trouble with a sexually aggressive older guy.

If you’re thinking Every Day has all the makings of a made-for-TV melodrama, you’re right. The film is basically a mid-life crisis—from start to finish—in 93 minutes. Levine does tackle some relatable real-life issues, but the way he does it is unsubtle, forced, and well shy of saying anything genuinely meaningful about the state of the nuclear family in the 2010s. Veering from attempted comedy to clichéd sentiment, Every Day feels uneven and tired. The greater cinematic sin, however, is that we never truly come to care about the characters. They’re all flawed, complicated people, which does give them some dimension, but they’re not exactly likeable. This is no fault of the actors, who generally deliver fine performances. Helen Hunt wears a monotone, perpetually depressed expression, but Schreiber is quite good as a husband and father stressed by life and failing to meet his familial obligations. Even better is Brian Dennehy, who absolutely eats up every scene he’s in, spewing invectives as a spiteful old codger who needs but doesn’t want his daughter’s help. Ultimately, though, the film is depressing and tedious—not so much because of the content as the execution—with an emotional payoff that will likely set your eyes rolling.

Every Day Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Every Day feels like a glorified made-for-TV movie at times—actually, most of the time—and it has a visual aesthetic to match. Shot using the Red One digital camera and given a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer, the film has a realistic, unpoetisized look that's a bit on the flat side. The picture often seems somewhat dim, colors are less vibrant than more extravagant productions, and contrast lacks punch—you get the sense that blacks are deep enough, but highlights are not quite as bright as they could/should be. Still, skin tones are natural throughout and there are no glaring color balance issues. Clarity fares better. Although the image is rarely tack sharp, there's an appreciable amount of fine detail visible in the actors' faces and clothing, from Liev Schreiber's Wolverine-like whiskers to the lace ruffles of Carla Gugino's blouse. Digital noise is kept to a minimum and there no real compression problems or encode issues aside from some minor shimmer on the fine lines of Schreiber's corduroy coat. The issue here is not the transfer but the film's on-the-dull-side cinematography.

Every Day Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

You've probably guessed by now that Every Day's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is—like most family dramas—a largely quiet, dialogue-driven affair. It certainly won't rouse the neighbors or wake the dead, but there's nothing wrong with this mix either; while dynamically restrained, it's clean and nicely balanced. The surround channels are only sparsely used, but you will hear some thumping party ambience, weepy bled- into-the-rears guitar tones, and occasional effects. The emphasis here is on the dialogue, which sits clearly and comprehensibly at the forefront of the mix. Behind that, the gentle score tries to prod our emotions semi-successfully. English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available in easy to read white lettering.

Every Day Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted Scenes (SD, 6:20): A smattering of short deleted scenes.
• Cast Interview (SD, 14:22): Interviews with the leads, who discuss their characters and the film's themes.
• Trailer (SD, 2:30)

Every Day Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Like an edgier Lifetime made-for-TV movie, Every Day examines the new complexities of the uppercase Modern Family but is alternately too schmaltzy and depressing to be truly insightful. Be forewarned, although this is technically billed as a comedy, you'll find few laughs here. Strong acting partially redeems the film, but I can only give a halfhearted recommendation. If anything, this is rental material.