In the movie, the simple sentence "I am fine" is revealed, and behind it is the chicken feathers of each family.
The elderly Frank used to be a worker who wrapped protective coatings on electric wires.
After his wife died eight months ago, he has been living alone. One day, Frank was happily preparing for the weekend family gathering, but his sons and daughters called and left messages saying that they could not go home if they had something to do. The great loss made him miss his children even more.
Frank felt that when his wife was alive, she kept in good contact with the children, and the children would tell her anything, but now the situation is very different.
So, despite the doctor's dissuasion, he took the medicine and embarked on a journey to visit his children.
Along the way, he proudly introduced his four children and his work to everyone he met. The children educated by a wire-packing worker are so good and lovely.
Frank's first stop: New York, the home of his eldest son David.
He waited at the entrance of the building all night, ringing the doorbell and calling, but no one answered.
When I left, I suddenly saw David's painting in an art gallery on the street.
He remembered the conversation he had with David as a child:
"I want to be a painter and make paintings I like."
"It's not a painter. The painter is painting on the wall, and the dog is peeing on that wall. You want to be an artist. Will you make me proud of you, son? "
"I will work hard, Dad."
Until the next morning, David was still missing. The father stuffed a letter through the crack in the door, telling his son that he wanted to make a surprise, but there was no one at home, so he would call again later.
So Frank left for the second stop, the family of Amy, his eldest daughter who lives in Chicago.
At the same time, Frank did not know that the eldest son David had been arrested in Mexico, and the children planned to hide Frank first.
At dinner, Amy's son interacted with her husband full of hostility, and the couple were also embarrassed.
Frank offered to stay at his daughter's house for a day or two, but was turned down. Amy said that the company had big projects to be busy with, and the husband and children were not at home, so there was really no time to take care of his father.
Frank had no choice but to agree, and told the eldest daughter that he would go to his second son Robert next, and specifically asked her not to notify him.
At the third stop, Frank came to the orchestra of his second son Robert who worked in Denver.
But he thought he was the son of a conductor, but he was just an insignificant drummer.
He felt that his son had always been very talented, and it was a pity to play drums. Children son confessed that he is doing well, this is the life you want.
Low pressure, able to travel, make money from it, without burden, and occasionally practice commanding...
When the father proposed to live with his son for two or three days, the son told him that the orchestra would fly to Europe that night and pack his luggage in the afternoon.
Because of the time difference, the watch did not adjust the time in time. Frank missed the train that had left an hour ago and had to stay overnight in a nearby hotel.
When passing the subway aisle, he saw a young man about the age of his son lying on the ground shivering. He gave him money to buy food.
The young man not only didn't thank him, but also wanted to snatch his wallet. As the two pushed and shoved, Frank's medicine bottle fell to the ground.
In order to retaliate, the irritated young man ignored Frank's bitter request, stepped directly on the medicine bottle, crushed each pill, turned and ran.
Frank, without any spare medicine, had to put all the powder on the ground in his pocket. At night, he carefully picked out the clothes fibers from the medicine dregs and then drank them, licking even the powder on the palms of his hands.
At the fourth stop, Frank came to the house of his youngest daughter who lives in Las Vegas. The youngest daughter seems to be the one who looks forward to his father the most.
She learned the news that her father was coming early, rented a cool stretched sports car to drive him, and prepared a big bedroom for him.
When they were going to the revolving restaurant on the 80th floor for dinner, the female neighbor had something to go out and asked them to help take care of the children.
It was originally said that the child would be picked up before the evening, but because of the delay, the child had to stay overnight.
While Rosie was taking care of the children, Frank overheard the message on the answering machine in the study. He discovered that his daughter's big house was used to welcome her father and was specially borrowed by a friend.
Frank seemed to realize that he had caused a lot of trouble for his daughter.
That night, they cooked dinner together at home. Rosie explained frankly but tactfully to her father why children have not contacted him much all the time:
Frank hopes that his son will become a dragon, and he always talks about his efforts and expectations to the children. But their mother who died was good at listening and understanding.
At the dinner table, Frank said that he had been out for too long and the medicine was not enough, so he would go back tomorrow.
However, the plane that was on board encountered a thunderstorm unexpectedly, did not take enough medicine and the turbulent flight, which caused Frank to have a heart attack.
While unconscious, Frank had a dream. He dreamed that the children were just like they were when they were young, sitting together and telling his father that he was doing well.
In fact, Frank had discovered that the "I'm fine" in the mouth of his children was a lie during the journey . He just saw through it but didn't tell it.
The eldest daughter Amy's marriage is not as happy as it seems on the surface. Frank noticed that Amy's husband wore the same clothes as yesterday at work in the morning. He no longer lived in his daughter's house and was only called back to act for Frank that day. The daughter's male colleague who met at the train station is her current partner. The daughter was afraid that he was not in good health, so she deliberately set up an "encounter" to let them meet.
The city of Denver was filled with posters of the band's performances. The venues of the performances were clearly local, and there was no European tour as his son called it.
The youngest daughter, Rosie, who has the best relationship, also concealed something. The baby "helped to look after" was her own, and the female neighbor was actually her lover.
What Frank couldn't figure out was, why didn't he tell him if there were so many situations and troubles in the children's lives?
After waking up in the hospital, he found that the children were all around the bed, but there was still no son David.
Now, he just wants to know what happened to David and don't deceive him anymore.
The children told him that David had passed away from an overdose in Mexico.
He didn't want to believe it. The children told him that he had always been too strict. They were afraid of his father's disappointment and they dared not say anything. Especially the son David, his father expects the highest from him, and he bears the most pressure.
At night, Frank on the hospital bed finally saw David as a little boy in his dream.
At this moment in the dream, he told David that no matter what you do, I am proud of you.
After being discharged from the hospital, Frank faced the communication problems between himself and the children and realized that he was too selfish when educating the children, and finally reconciled with the children and himself.
On Christmas next year, Frank came to the supermarket early to purchase, and this time, no one broke the appointment. The family really got together, and everyone had a good time.
Frank finally discovered that children should not live to meet their own expectations, they all have their own lives.
It’s not bad to be a painter if you don’t want to be an artist. The marriage doesn’t have to be so happy. It’s also good to be a drummer in a band. It’s not a big deal to like the same sex. Everything is the children’s choice.
Frank finally realized: "As long as the children are really happy."
Because we live independently, we inevitably become alienated from our parents. It may be because our love is true, but there is an inevitable generation gap; it may also be because under the pressure of struggling alone, we gradually closed the door to the strongest support system such as our family.
It turns out that with the family, facing difficult or undesirable situations together, you don't have to say "I'm all well!"
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