Film Review - A Good Person
Images courtesy of Kismet.
A Good Person is a soundly crafted story of grief, addiction, forgiveness and acceptance, helmed by Florence Pugh who gives (yet another) extremely focused and moving performance as the untethered Allison. Writer and director Zach Braff is able to blend his expected brand of sarcastic humour into a story that is otherwise devastating and painful.
The film begins with the engagement party of Allison and Nathan, a couple so in love that they practically light up the room. Immediately we can sense an admiration, respect, humour and affection shared between the two, that will have the romantics in the audience sighing sweetly, and the cynics thinking that this all looks too good to be true. Unfortunately, the cynics will be correct, for the very next day Allison takes Molly, Nathan’s sister, and Molly’s husband to go wedding dress shopping with her. As the trio drive in the car, happily chatting about the day’s activities, Allison makes the fateful mistake of momentarily checking maps on her phone. Not focusing on the road ahead, Allison misses a bulldozer doing construction in the next lane, swinging into her path. By the time she looks up and sees the obstruction, it is too late to brake, and the car crashes. Allison survives the crash, but Molly and her husband perish. This event immediately transforms Allison’s reality into a series of devastating obstacles to overcome.
The movie continues, jumping one year ahead. This Allison is markedly different from the vibrant woman in love. She is now jobless, living at home with her mother (played by Molly Shannon who provides some much needed levity to the film), and addicted to the Oxycontin she was prescribed for her pain following the accident. Perhaps worst of all, she has separated from Nathan.
The journey Allison must now undertake is two-fold. She must first attempt to make things right with those she has harmed. This she is able to begin to attempt under the guidance of her mentor Daniel, played stoically and softly by Morgan Freeman. Daniel, coincidentally, happens to be the father of Nathan and Molly, so he must simultaneously balance his own grief with Allison’s. However the real joy comes from watching Allison accept the part she played in this life changing accident. Several times we hear Allison claim that the accident was not her fault, and blame the entire ordeal on the construction worker. This denial adds depth to Allison, who we are otherwise rooting for. Her persistence that she was not at fault brings an element of unlikability to this character, and whilst predictable as a narrative arch, watching Allison come to terms with her own fate is still able to bring a satisfying close to the film’s end.
A Good Person is by no means top tier cinema, but its devastating central story and accompanying themes of perseverance, guilt, grief and morality does elevate the watching experience from basic entertainment to something more philosophical. The audience will no doubt put themselves into the shoes of a variety of characters in this film, forcing them to consider for themselves what exactly are the makings of a good person.
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A Good Person is screening in cinemas from Thursday 20th April. For tickets and more info, click here.