Everything Must Go

A few nights ago I watched Everything Must Go, a movie staring Will Ferrell based on a Raymond Carver story. It is about an alcoholic who loses his job on the same day that his wife kicks him out of the house -- changing the locks and leaving all his stuff on the front lawn.

I think you are meant to think that he's the jerk in the situation, because he's an alcoholic fuck up. But really I couldn't get passed how fucked up it was of the wife to leave his stuff out and to cancel his access to their joint account. Leaving him with absolutely nothing to do. You are supposed to get past this and become absorbed in his dilemma and the bittersweet way that he deals with it, living on his lawn, befriending the son of neighborhood home care worker, and the pregnant woman across the street. And I did enjoy most of the movie. The acting was good, the dialogue solid, the plot engaging. But there were a lot of holes and in the end I didn't feel like I had anything invested in any of the characters.