Everybody's Fine!

Just watched Everybody's Fine, a 2009 Robert De Niro movie about a widower who sets out to visit his four children who avoid visiting him, learning about his family, maybe for the first time.  Nobody is fine in his family, as all hide secrets and resentment from their father, who had  high expectations of his children, who settled for slightly lower than his standards.

To me the movie resonated, not because of settling, but more because of the lack of communication between father and children.  My own guilt trip, as I didn't communicate much with either parent, and didn't even know their expectations.  Most likely it was that I grow up happy and successful, but it was never discussed, nor were discussions of hopes, dreams, strengths, successes, or failures.  I'm actually not writing to lament , but because this set me to mulling about relationships, to wondering how others would see this movie, and their family lives in it.  A short mull, however, I'm ready for bed!