Everything Must Go

An alcoholic salesman (Will Ferrell) falls off the wagon during a business trip and his life crashes and burns: First he loses his job, then his wife dumps his belongings on the lawn, changes the locks and moves out. He sets up sodden housekeeping in his front yard, guzzling beer, pretending to hold a yard sale, and chatting with his neighbor (Rebecca Hall) and a passing kid (Christopher Jordan Wallace) whose mother works in the neighborhood. First-time writer-director Dan Rush (adapting a Raymond Carver short story) is overdeliberate; in trying for low-key naturalism, he slides into sluggishness. But the movie has an honest heart; details are acutely observed, and performances are excellent—especially Ferrell, and including Michael Peña as his Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor and Laura Dern as an old high-school friend.