Director: Zach Braff
Actors: Florence Pugh, Morgan Freeman, Celste O’Connor, Chinaza Uche
Genre: Drama
Rating: MA
‘A Good Person’ is Zach Braff’s fourth film as director, and for mine, his best yet (yes, even better than ‘Garden State’). As much as I like him, his films might be better without him in them! This is a well-written and superbly-acted investigation of grief and love. Allison (Pugh) and Nathan (Uche) are engaged when tragedy strikes, leaving Allie addicted to painkillers. What follows is the story of how each cope with their grief.
The acting is exceptional across the board – Nathan’s Dad, Daniel (Freeman),
niece Ryan (O’Connor), Allison’s Mum, Dianne (Shannon) and sponsor, Simone (Lister-Jones).
All have significant roles in how they interact with Pugh, who puts on a masterclass,
at times trying to be brave, others completely at a loss – and you feel it all
with her. I think she’ll be around for a long, long time. Even her songs are
good!
The score overall is solid, and New Jersey serves as a nice setting, with
some New York thrown in, as is always the case. This is certainly not a typical
romantic drama, or “sad film”, with plenty of moments of humour, as well as
some subtle warnings about drug-use and using phones while driving. Pacing is
good and it’s not too long. But it’s a story of love and forgiveness at it’s
heart and does an exceptional job of making you care about Allison and Daniel
in particular. Certainly not many dry eyes in the theatre at the end!
Overall: Excellent story of grief and humanity
Gav's Rating: 4 stars
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