4/8/22 - Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) - 8+/9-/10
The joy, feeling, and glorious wonder of the cinema - an experience to immerse and enchant - the reason we go to the movies is THIS kind of film.
I’m not sure if I can say what really makes this such an extraordinary film experience, but I’m not sure I have seen a film with such empathy, humor, action and fresh ingenuity for a long time. I certainly haven’t had as much fun in a theater as I did with this flick in forever. Oh what joy. I mean, hot dog fingers, raccaccoony, bagels…simply amazing.
Yeoh is a gem, but Quan (you might remember Data from The Goonies) probably steals the show, while Hsu and Hong truly make for an esteemed and tremendous ensemble. They ALL bring it in just the right tonally shifting exceptional way. The action and stunt work is damn fine as well. Andy and Brian Le deserve utmost respect.
Is it the deepest film? No. Maybe even slightly dumbed down crassness at times? Sure. But I also think it might lose some of its kitsch and easy going relatability if it was encumbered by further intellectual complexities and deeper subtleties. I am usually one for profundity but I had such a great time and reveled in a smart lowbrow pseudo-philosophical sci-fi romp such as this that I didn’t feel it needed to worm further into my gray matter. Besides, butt stuff is funny too.
This might be the best project that the Russos have been involved with (they were producers), and that says a helluva lot. The sheer invigorating and colorfully enterprising nature of the film and how it was made is a cool ambrosia to the lips of smaller/independent cinema. It’s a wonky, DIY feeling, crowd pleasing, thought provoking, dollop of magical realism wrapped in existential catharsis and familial belonging. It’s like if the Matrix and Paddington had a baby in a Michelle Gondry/Jackie Chan kung fu film. Loved it.
