A Good Person
Metro-Goldwyn-MayerZach Braff’s directorial efforts aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. Garden State was well received, but it does have its detractors, and one shouldn’t speak about Wish I Was Here or the 2017 remake of Going in Style. However, Braff may have made his best film with A Good Person. It’s filled with great empathy and compassion and never judges the protagonists it focuses on, Allison (Florence Pugh) and Daniel (Morgan Freeman).
Soon before her wedding to Nathan (Chinaza Uche), Allison heads to pick out a wedding dress with Nathan’s sister and husband. However, the two end up in a significant car crash, severely injuring Allison and killing the other two. Allison breaks up with Nathan, while Daniel, their father, directly blames her for the accident. A year later, Allison is recovering from the crash by staying isolated at home and taking Oxycontin to numb the pain. She has grown addicted to opioids and desperately realizes she needs help after smoking heroin. She goes to an alcoholics anonymous meeting, where Daniel is there. Afraid she will notice him, she leaves, but Daniel convinces her to stay, and the two start moving on from the accident together.
Daniel, a retired police officer, hasn’t touched a drink in ten years, but his granddaughter Ryan’s (Celeste O’Connor) erratic behavior causes him to contemplate drinking again. A lot happens within A Good Person’s first act, and it never really flows together. The writing is messy, and the performances, particularly Molly Shannon's portrayal of Allison’s mother, are perfunctory, with the movie pacing itself to get to the Daniel/Allison reunion. However, A Good Person instantly improves after the reunion occurs, with two outstanding performances from great actors.
It’s been a long time since Morgan Freeman has cared about being in the film he’s in. Well, it’s also been a long since Morgan Freeman starred in a film that understood how to exploit his talents. A Good Person is a reminder of how once talented Freeman was as a force of great emotional complexity, particularly in Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, with the latter winning him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Through his eyes and how he looks at his bottle of Whiskey, audiences can see how he is grappling with alcoholism. The fight is complex and requires much mental strength that Daniel seems unprepared for. It’s a simple moment, but Freeman plays it with such raw power that audiences are quickly drawn to the character and begins to understand his plight.
He shares indelible chemistry with Pugh, who doesn’t play an easy role. Some will say Pugh is a rising star, but she has been one since Lady Macbeth put her on the map. There are many brutal scenes to watch, and they’re surprisingly not the ones where Pugh is high on drugs. They’re the ones where she has to face her traumatic past head-on, through tough conversations with Freeman’s Daniel, or when she meets Ryan for the first time.
Throughout the film, there are sparse moments of levity. Still, the film maintains its serious tone and paints a difficult journey for Allison and Daniel as they slowly recover to a better emotional place. It could be hard to watch for some people, especially ones who have suffered from the sudden death of a loved one in difficult circumstances or have dealt with drug/alcohol addiction. However, this is not a movie that feels manipulative in any way or uses challenging subject matters to make the audience cry desperately. Sure, one may leave A Good Person with tears, but it’ll happen naturally because Braff writes the script with great sensitivity and care for his characters. As someone who isn’t big on Braff’s filmography, A Good Person is surprisingly very good, and will perhaps be remembered long after it was released as his best film.