“A Good Person” Review
Florence Pugh (right) and Morgan Freeman form an unlikely friendship in “A Good Person,” the latest film from writer/director Zach Braff.
Zach Braff may be a charming, handsome actor that everyone fell in love with on “Scrubs,” but his efforts as a director have been truly stellar to witness. After his 2006 debut as a director and screenwriter in “Garden State,” Braff has continued to excel with both comedy and drama with films like “Wish I Was Here” and episodes of “Ted Lasso” and “Shrinking.” His latest effort, “A Good Person” marks his best work as a filmmaker, touching into the deep emotions that he first explored in his first film.
Florence Pugh stars in the film as Allison, a charismatic pharmaceutical sales rep. who is engaged to a fabulous fiancé named Nathan (Chinaza Uche). However, a dark tragedy derails Allison’s life when she gets into a car accident that kills her future sister-in-law Molly and her husband Jesse (Nichelle Hines and Toby Onwumere). One year later, Allison has broken up with Nathan, is addicted to prescription painkillers and is struggling with depression. Seeking help, she goes to a support group meeting where she encounters her would-be father-in-law Daniel (Morgan Freeman) who is now the guardian of Ryan (Celeste O’Connor), Molly and Jesse’s child. What follows is an unlikely story of love, friendship and forgiveness in the face of harsh reality.
Zach Braff’s work as a writer often deals with harsh issues like death, mortality and emotional detachment. But Braff takes these themes and injects a liveliness into the story while never downplaying their serious nature. “A Good Person” exemplifies this with a strong, existential sense of drama that is naturally broken up with some good humor whose purpose is just to help these people heal.
Ever since her triple-slam year in 2019, where she starred in “Fighting With My Family,” “Midsommar” and “Little Women,” I have been invested in the rising stardom of Florence Pugh who is one of the strongest young actors working today. In “A Good Person,” Pugh is at her most vulnerable since “Midsommar,” giving a layered and rich performance composed of guilt and grief. The conversations Allison has with Daniel and her support group are fantastic as there is so much raw emotion on display.
In the film, Allison and Daniel both have their struggles with substances and trying to put their lives together following such a traumatic ordeal. While there’s blame to assign and fights to be had, the ultimate message of the film is beautifully hard. It’s just about finding your way forward with love and forgiveness. But the film addresses that forgiveness is hard, whether it’s of others or yourself. Genuinely forgiving is one of the most difficult things you can do and seeing how this may or may not be achieved in the film is all that I needed to become invested.
Morgan Freeman’s performance is also deeply compelling. While he seems like a bereaved father at the beginning, there’s additional emotion beneath the surface. The more Allison learns about Daniel, the more she sees how similar they are. How they’ve been hurt. How they’ve hurt in return. How they’re trying to make something beautiful come out of that darkness.
All of the pieces are there for a truly excellent drama but, for some reason, this film has been getting some terrible criticism by some who deem it too schmaltzy or sentimental. I think that, if they earn it, the filmmakers are more than justified to give you warm feelings, especially after the characters go through so much. It wasn’t right when “A Man Called Otto” or many of Spielberg’s films got that flack and it’s not right here.
“A Good Person” is more than some film that overtly tries to get you to appreciate life. It will make you cry and make you feel such strong emotions for these characters while also giving you the big, strong hug that you need. As I watched this film, it made me reflect upon my own journey. How my actions affect others and how I can use my life to help others. “A Good Person” not only shows the trials of addiction and remorse but how love can be what saves us. Congratulations Zach Braff, you’ve really knocked it out of the park again.
