Review: Bryan Cranston and Allison Janney Lead Theater Dramedy EVERYTHING'S GOING TO BE GREAT

From the first scenes of "Everything’s Going to Be Great," the primary personality traits between the four members of the Smart family are clearly and neatly defined. Les (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) is the nerdy theater kid, a performer through and through. Buddy (Bryan Cranston) is the charismatic and fun-loving ringleader. Macy (Allison Janney) is the sensible matriarch, and older brother Derrick (Jack Champion) is the sports kid, endlessly embarrassed by his unusual family. 

Directed by Jon S. Baird (Stan & Ollie) from a screenplay by Steven Rogers (I, Tonya), Everybody’s Going to Be Great catches up with the Smart family in Akron, OH, in the late 1980s. With Buddy at the helm, they remain on their decades-long journey to finding success as regional theater producers. But, even with a mostly fruitless record of jumping from place to place, a new prospect has Buddy excited: a potential opportunity to take over a theater in New Jersey, which, if successful, will lead to an even better position in Milwaukee. If all goes well, they will finally achieve their dream and “everything will be great,” as Buddy promises repeatedly. But if they fail, they lose everything. Of course, we know that, somehow, things aren’t going to be great, despite Buddy’s reassurance to the contrary. 

Like the Smarts, the movie jumps around from scene to scene, location to location, often leaving gaps in the narrative. For example, one subplot is dedicated to Buddy joining several churches in an attempt to bring new audiences to their shows. However, we never see the fruit of his plan play out in real time, only gathering later that it was successful. 

Additionally, we are repeatedly told that Derrick loves football and hates performing, but we never see him do either. As for Les, one of his character “quirks,” is his compulsion to walk on stage during inopportune moments, resulting in understandable frustration from his cast and director. When his dad finally casts him in a production of Brighton Beach Memoirs, we don’t really know what has changed, and, since we have never seen him actually perform, there is a disconnect. 

Still, there are also several fun moments here for the theater fan. One running bit involves Les receiving visits from dead theater legends, with everybody from Noël Coward to Tallulah Bankhead (played by the always-fabulous Laura Benanti in a brief appearance). There are also two scenes with musical numbers as the family breaks into impromptu renditions from Pirates of Penzance and A Chorus Line.

As for performances, Cranston and Janney are the standouts here. Cranston is completely believable as an eccentric theater producer who puts practical comforts on the back burner in lieu of a life on the road. Likewise, Janney’s characterization of a middle-aged woman trying to rediscover herself remains grounded. Interestingly, she is also the only character who has any significant growth or development. In one moment near the end, Les tells his brother, “Nobody is just one thing.” If only the movie took its own advice and allowed for deeper development, rather than a collection of idiosyncrasies.

Part road movie, part family drama, part coming-of-age story, "Everything’s Going to Be Great" attempts to do many things at once. Some work, such as the lovely relationship between Les and his father. But most do not, resulting in a fragmented, inconsistent result that is less than the sum of its parts. Within the plot, many themes are addressed, including the use of religion, the complications of sexual orientation, the pain of infidelity and loss, and the importance of “finding your people.” These are all worthy topics, to be sure, but too much to be covered sufficiently in only 95 minutes. All of it makes for a film that, along with its practice of telling rather than showing, is somehow underwritten and overwritten all at once.

"Everything’s Going to Be Great" made its world premiere at Tribeca Festival on Monday, June 9th. The movie will be available in select theaters on Friday, June 20.

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