Director: Zach Braff
Writer: Zach Braff
Stars: Florence Pugh, Morgan Freeman, Celeste O’Connor
Synopsis: Follows Allison, whose life falls apart following her involvement in a fatal accident.
If you were a certain age in 2004, you would have probably nodded along to every word and choice of Zach Braff’s directorial debut, Garden State. You would have absolutely realized he “got you” like no one else could have. Maybe a decade later when you saw it again with fresh eyes and more life experience, you may have cringed. It became easier to dismiss the film and Braff as a filmmaker as the years went on. Yet, there’s something to like about his latest effort, A Good Person.
There are still some of the trappings of the indie sad boy icon, but Braff is a filmmaker much more confident in his story. This story is, like Garden State, about a feeling of being trapped in place, but it’s a far different feeling of finding someone to help you out of it. A Good Person is about learning to ask for help rather than foisting feelings onto another person so that they can solve everything for you with a, shall we say, manic pixie energy. In A Good Person, there strive to be no easy solutions or outs.
There is a split narrative in A Good Person that weaves through the tale of grief. In some ways the pull of focus from one character or another fails the stronger narrative of Allison (Florence Pugh). Though Allison’s story can’t progress without the addition of Daniel (Morgan Freeman), it’s a tangled web that opens up for cliched generational problems between Daniel, Allison, and Daniel’s granddaughter Ryan (Celeste O’Connor) often played for comedy. The actors make it work for the most part, but there are some tedious bits.
It helps the tedious bits that Braff isn’t an actor in the film. We get his unadorned vision without the distraction of his presence. We can marvel at his and cinematographer Mauro Fiore’s use of light and color. There is a scene that out of context could be snarky evidence against Braff, but in context of the film is rather beautiful. Before it’s horribly upended, Allison is standing alone, amongst others, in a venue listening to music. She lets herself go and Braff and Fiore play the lights off of her and slow the camera down to show a high of a different kind, a high she’s missed as she’s shut herself off from the world. As her thoughts, eyes, and the camera come back into focus, all of her face changes to pull us from the dream back into a frightening reality.
Though, as wonderful as it is to see Braff’s talent come into sharper focus, the true special effect of the film is in Florence Pugh’s performance. She doesn’t ever wallow in the trappings of an addiction drama. Pugh builds her flawed character and makes her three dimensional. She handles the dry delivery of humor like a pro and elevates each tear streaked monologue to high art.
This film can take a long time to grab you. The split narrative can be a bit trying. In some ways it’s very heavy handed and in many others it’s delicate, or at least lets the characters be people rather than archetypes. Yet, the assuredness in Zach Braff’s ability as a storyteller is there. His approach is intriguing and the film never feels as if it blames the characters or stands in judgment over them. A Good Person is a weepy drama worthy of a trip to the theater even if it is to scrub the sour taste of Garden State from your memory.
Grade: C
