Everything Everywhere All at Once

Last spring must have been a busy time for me since that was when "Everything Everywhere All at Once" was released. By the time I had the opportunity to see it, it had left the film circuit. So, here I am reviewing it after it won multiple Academy Awards. Because of this, it was re-released. The film has an intriguing premise, however, as much as it is intriguing, it stumbled its way across the screen.

This is a humorous and big-hearted sci-fi action adventure about an exhausted middle-aged Chinese American woman, Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) who can't seem to get all the information she needs for her taxes to be audited by IRS agent Dierdre Beaubeirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis). While in the IRS office with husband Waymond Wang (Ke Huy Quan) and her father Gong Gong (James Hong), all hell breaks loose in that Waymond comes from another universe called the Alpha Universe to help her realize that these multiple universes exist and this is where the premise gets complex, and then the story transforms to other people in her life and their parallel personas in other universes still. 

Others to round out the cast are Stephanie Hsu as Joy Wang, Evelyn's daughter, Jenny Slate as Debbie, the dog mom, Tallie Medel as Becky Stregor, Harry Shum Jr. as Chad and Biff Wiff as Rick.

This was incredibly well delineated by director Daniel Kwan ("Swiss Army Man" '16, "Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia" '20) plus TV, shorts, videos and music videos, and Daniel Scheinert ("Swiss Army Man" '16, "The Death of Dick Long" '19, "Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia" '20) plus TV, shorts and music videos. Even though these filmmakers don't have an extensive feature film resume, their ability to reach their audience through the emotions they are able to extract from their actors is phenomenal. They are typically called 'The Daniels' and they have been a directing and writing team for a number of years which has got to help in their creations. It was also creatively written by Daniel Kwan ("Swiss Army Man" '16, "Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia" '20) plus shorts and a video, and Daniel Scheinert ("Swiss Army Man" '16, "Omniboat: A Fast Boat Fantasia" '20) plus TV and shorts. I have to say that the majority of films about multi universes, time travel and the like have a tendency to become convoluted as the film unfolds, As with this film, as the film starts, it is interesting, a little odd, but intriguing. But as the movie unfolds, it gets a bit bogged down in the fact that they are dealing with too many universes for the audience to fully grasp it. There are aspects of this that are not explained fully, and in some cases, never explained at all. These writers are talented if given a reasonable premise in which to convey, but I have serious doubts that even the most veteran writers couldn't have handled the idea of this film any better. The editing by Paul Rogers was stunning and can see why he picked up his Oscar for it. And the acting, especially by Curtis and Yeoh was perfect.

This film is not for the mass audience appeal--I mean there were a few people that actually left the theater. People need to do their homework before going to the multiplex, lest they come away with an unhappy experience. The premise will give one a bit of a headache, but the directing, acting and editing are first rate. 

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                               Rated: R                                              139mins.