© 2024 KUNR
Illustration of rolling hills with occasional trees and a radio tower.
Serving Northern Nevada and the Eastern Sierra
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
KUNR’s spring fund drive is happening now, and your gift to the station will go twice as far with a matching pledge from the KUNR Advisory Board!

Now is the time to act –
click here to make a gift to KUNR today or increase your sustaining membership and have it matched.

‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’: Robin’s movie review

For Movie Minutes, Robin Holabird takes a look at Everything Everywhere All at Once.

An artistic movie poster shows animated depictions of the characters circled around the center of the composition that reads, “Everything Everywhere All at Once. A film from Daniels.”
A24

Outrageous, confusing, or confounding? Everything Everywhere All at Once stands out as one of the most original movies to come along in years. Its modernistic use of alternative universes ultimately leads to old-fashioned warm fuzziness with surprising sleight-of-hand tricks from its writers/directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.

The Daniels take an absurdist approach with their fantasy elements going beyond Marvel Universe worlds by adding crazy concepts and cynicism to the mix. It all works better because the creators bring in Michelle Yeoh as the movie’s centerpiece. The Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon martial arts star shines as a Chinese immigrant coming to terms with choices she made earlier in her life. Playing a range of iterations from bitter businesswoman to glamorous actress, Yeoh suits every demand made by the script, which includes the choreographed moves of an action star from kung fu movies.

Strong backup comes from Stephanie Hsu of the Shang-Chi movie and Ke Huy Quan — grown up since his days as Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Padded with fake belly fat, Jamie Lee Curtis goes against type as a dowdy tax auditor — though, like everyone else in the film, she and her characters often switch gears as action moves from one alternative scenario to another. Pay attention and it all makes sense as the Daniels show how to have everything happen everywhere all at once.

This review aired on KUNR FM on Friday, June 17.

Robin Holabird is KUNR’s entertainment reviewer, author, and former film commissioner for the Nevada Film Office. You can browse a full archive of her reviews here.

Robin Holabird reviews movies for KUNR, and her reviews have aired for more than 30 years. During that time, she has had a high profile in the Nevada film community.
Related Content