Charles' Never Too Late to Review, Review...Everything Everywhere all at Once

I know I’m late to the party. I know the film has already been nominated for a bunch of Oscars. I don’t care!

I finally got around to watching Everything Everywhere All at Once and I got to say, this is some great movie making. No wonder it has been nominated for eleven Academy Awards. The direction was solid, the acting superb and the story was comical, action-riffic and sweet, all at the same time.

Michelle Yeoh was really good in the lead about a woman who lost herself in mundanity for what seems like most of her adult life. She and her husband run a less than successful laundromat that has seeped into every aspect of their everyday lives. She’s dissatisfied, with her existence, a bit estranged from her daughter, distant from her husband (who’s politely trying to get her to sign divorce papers) and taking care of her elderly father who had in turn turned his back on her due to her life choices. Worst of all, they are under audit by the IRS with a, maybe, slightly xenophobic agent who is coming down hard and talks down to them.

Enter the crazy awesomeness of the multiverse where one, given the right tools and catalyst, can enter another universe and take over the body of themselves there, gaining all their memories and abilities. Yes, multiverse has been a bit over played these days, but this movie makes it fun. The catalysts were great and random, like giving yourself four papercuts, or pissing your pants, or rubbing hand sanitizer into your eyes. Took a minute to figure out why that was happening.

The acting was top notch, from Michelle Yoen as the main character and mother, Key Huy Kuan (the once child actor who has found his calling again), the great James Hong as Gong Gong the father (93, been around forever, and is still great), and Stephanie Hsu as the daughter. The always amazing Jamie Lee Curtis as the IRS agent and minion of the bad guy does an incredible physical performance.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is Quantum leap, Spider Man Into the Spiderverse, a kung fu movie, a pinch of Monty Python, and Joy Luck Club, all wrapped nicely in a story of a mid-life crisis. And done very well.

Full stars!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐