Although this marks his first time writing and directing a motion picture, former Nip/Tuck writer/producer Richard Levine succeeds in bringing a decidedly-adult drama about grown-up life to us with his debut film, Every Day. Like a lot of the better writers out there, Levine endows his characters with many aspects from real-life situations and individuals, and the result is something that will strike a chord with just about anyone that’s ever been down the road of marriage/kids/career.
The story here focuses on Ned (Live Schreiber), a family man who works as a staff writer for a highly sensational cable television series that prides itself on its ridiculous amounts of sex and shock. While the job is a well-paying one, it tends to tear our protagonist away from his family. His family, on the other hand, have their own affairs to contend with: Jeannie (Helen Hunt), Ned’s wife, has just returned home with her dying father (Brian Dennehy) in tow — which forces the youngest of Ned and Jeannie’s two sons (Skyler Fortgang) to grow up a little bit before it’s time. The couple’s oldest son, however, is more grown up than Ned would care to admit: Jonah (Ezra Miller) is an openly gay high school student who is beginning to explore the whole “dating” scene.
Yes, Ned’s family life is definitely in need of a tune-up. But then, his work life isn’t hot, either. His boss (Eddie Izzard) is constantly demanding new surprises out of Ned for the show; a problematic state of affairs that increases Ned’s potential to run head-on into disaster when he’s asked to do some late night re-writing with a young, curvy and promiscuous colleague (Carla Gugino). Will Ned be able to resist the temptations of a “newer, faster model” of woman? Can he accept his eldest son’s homosexuality and learn to be OK with it? And what of Jeannie and her day-to-day struggle with her miserable dad? And does this sound a little too much like real life, kids? Well, that’s because this is what real life is like for many people. In Ned’s case, it happens Every Day.
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