Will Ferrell delivers an understated performance in writer/director Dan Rush's funny and touching adaptation of Raymond Carver's short story "Why Don't You Dance?" Nick Porter has just been fired from his sales job after, well, not keeping sober. Things get worse as he returns home to find that his wife has left him, changed the locks, cut him off from their credit cards, and thrown all his stuff out on the front lawn. With the last few bucks in his pocket, he buys some beer and sets up a yard sale to sell off everything he has. Under Texas law, he can keep his sale going for five days, but is that enough time for Nick to get it together?

Everything Must Go is anchored by Ferrell's ability to make Nick sympathetic even when the character—often clutching a can of beer—is at rock bottom. He shares many moving scenes with a lonely pregnant neighbor (Rebecca Hall), a teen kid that hangs around (Christopher Jordan Wallace), and an old high school friend (Laura Dern). Rush expertly balances the humorous moments and the serious tones in this story of starting over and moving on.

Directed by

Dan Rush