Tag: Cat’s In The Cradle

Everybody’s Fine.

everybodys-fine-poster

My friend Abhaya is a movie buff who downloads movies from his satellite TV for viewing at leisure. He sends me a crisp message on WhatsApp recommending that I see it. Many of the older films that I have seen by purchasing DVDs are due to such recommendations from him.

Some weeks ago, Abhaya send a message that I should see Everybody’s Fine. Finding that it had Robert De Niro and Drew Barrymore in it, I had immediately ordered for a DVD and after it came just kept it away and forgot all about it.

Yesterday, feeling like seeing a movie but not quite willing to get out of the house to go to a multiplex, I picked the top most DVD in my collection and lo and behold it turned out to be Everybody’s Fine.

It is a drama film as its producers call it but I would rather call it a family drama. A retired widower’s discovery that his children have lied to him to protect him from himself under some impression that he will not be able to face and accept realities is the theme around which the story is built. There are many things in it that resonated with me but also some that did not.

There are some scenes which could have been completely eliminated as they serve no purpose like showing endless shots of coated cable running alongside trains and highways to remind the viewer that the father had once produced those cables while giving a rough time to his wife and growing up children. Such pruning would have allowed for expanding the emotions involved in some of the reunion scenes which due to underdevelopment fall flat.

Overall, a good movie to watch if one likes a bit of mush. Coming as it did more or less soon after my exposure to Cat’s in the cradle with a similar theme, it left me with a sense of satisfaction that I did not too badly as a father while my son was growing up. Worth a [rating=4] rating, possibly with half a star more which I am unable to put in.

Nostalgia.

A comment by a reader in Jim’s post Monday Forum – Cilla Black and nostalgia led me to this wonderful song that I had never heard before. It resonated like very few songs have and I am sure that many others would be as touched by the emotions expressed as I have been.

“Cat’s In The Cradle”

My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talkin’ ‘fore I knew it, and as he grew
He’d say “I’m gonna be like you, Dad
You know I’m gonna be like you”

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home, Dad
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then

My son turned ten just the other day
He said, “Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let’s play
can you teach me to throw”, I said “Not today
I got a lot to do”, he said, “That’s ok
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
And said, “I’m gonna be like him, yeah
You know I’m gonna be like him”

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home, Dad
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then
You know we’ll have a good time then

Well, he came from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
“Son, I’m proud of you, can you sit for a while”
He shook his head and said with a smile
“What I’d really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later, can I have them please”

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home son
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then, Dad
You know we’ll have a good time then

I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, “I’d like to see you if you don’t mind”
He said, “I’d love to, Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job’s a hassle and kids have the flu
But it’s sure nice talking to you, Dad
It’s been sure nice talking to you”

And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He’d grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man in the moon
When you comin’ home son
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then, Dad
We’re gonna have a good time then.