Movie Review A Good Person

A Good Person (2023) 

Directed by Zach Braff

Written by Zach Braff 

Starring Florence Pugh, Morgan Freeman, Molly Shannon, Zoe Lister-Jones, Chinaza Uche 

Release Date March 31st, 2023 

Published April 4th, 2023 

You can only numb emotional pain for so long before the numbness becomes the desired effect. Life becomes stagnant, the outside world is a place of judgment, a place to fear. Being numb and at home is the desired space in the world. But, to quote a terrific song called Sideways by Citizen Cope and Santana, lyrics that have never left me since I heard them on an episode of Scrubs, 'These feelings won't go away.' Until you actually confront your emotional damage, it will not heal, it will only fester. 

Allison (Florence Pugh), the protagonist of the new drama, A Good Person, is in the midst of learning this lyrical lesson in A Good Person. Following an accident that killed her soon to be sister and brother in-laws, Allison turned to Oxycontin, first as a way of dealing with physical pain and then as a way to numb the emotional pain of guilt that she felt every time she looked into the eyes of her fiancé, Nathan (Chinaza Uche). These feelings of guilt linger and fester within her, even after she abandoned Nathan for the comfort of moving home to her mother, Diane (Molly Shannon) who proves to be an unwilling enabler of her daughter's addiction. 

Eventually, this unhealed wound drives Allison to depths that even she recognizes as wrong and she seeks help. There, with much unexpected irony, she meets Daniel (Morgan Freeman), her former future father-in-law and father of the woman who died in the accident Allison caused by carelessly looking at her phone while driving. You might expect Daniel to lash out but, to Allison's great surprise, the elderly father reaches out a hand and invites her to stay and get help as part of the AA/NA Meeting at their shared local church. 

The tentative friendship between Allison and Daniel that develops via their attending these meetings, drives the action of the second act of A Good Person as Allison is introduced to the teenage daughter that was left orphaned in the care of her grandfather. Ryan (Celeste O'Connor), at first, is shocked and mortified that Daniel would bring Allison into their lives, considering the circumstances, but eventually, she begins to befriend Allison. The friendship is fraught, quite obviously, but when Ryan tries to reunite Allison with Nathan, things go beyond fraught to a place a deep despair. 

One thing that Zach Braff does well as a writer and director is explore complicated emotions and give those emotions room to breathe. Garden State was anchored by an exploration of grief and the healing power of falling in love with someone who understands you. He explored a remarkably similar theme in the equally effective, Wish I Was Here. And, once again, in A Good Person, Braff is back to exploring grief from yet another perspective and once again he allows room for this complicated emotion to be lived in, explored, and for it to begin to heal. 

His themes may be similar but Braff is at his best when he stops and lets the anguish that his characters are feeling be fully expressed. The catharsis of big emotions can be a tad manipulative in a film drama b but in Braff's conception, and in the performances of actors such as Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman, it never feels pushy. Pugh's performance in particular is so charismatic that it leaves an indelible, unforgettable impression. Say what you will about the sameness of Zach Braff's direction, in the hands of great actors, it barely registers. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review The Ex

The Ex (2007) 

Directed by Jesse Peretz

Written by Michael Handelman 

Starring Zach Braff, Jason Bateman, Amanda Peet, Mia Farrow, Charles Grodin, Donal Logue, Amy Adams, Paul Rudd 

Release Date May 11th, 2007 

Published May 11th, 2007

The tortured history of the movie The Ex is almost too much to explain in this space. The film began life as a workplace comedy about four guys trying to get ahead in business. That film was called Fast Track. Somewhere along the line that film disappeared and in its ashes rose The Ex, a romantic comedy with just a touch of workplace stuff from the original script.

Gone from the movie, aside from cameos, were stars Paul Rudd and Josh Charles. In are supporting performances from Charles Grodin, acting for the first time in over a decade and former Oscar nominee Amy Adams in an absurdly small and underwritten cameo. The film was purchased by the Weinstein company and released as Fast Track back in January.

For whatever reason the film was pulled from that platform release and pushed into theaters with little fanfare five months later.

Tom (Zach Braff) is about to become a father for the first time. Unfortunately, he just lost his job. With his wife Sofia (Amanda Peet) having already given up her law practice to take care of the baby, Tom is forced to accept something he never wanted to accept. Tom must move his family back to his wife\'s hometown in Ohio where he will take a job working for her father (Charles Grodin).

The job, at a new agey marketing agency, has Tom working alongside his wife\'s ex-boyfriend Chip Sanders (Jason Bateman), a parapelegic who really has it out for Tom, likely because he still carries a torch for Sofia. Chip makes Tom\ 's work life difficult, sabotaging his presentations, stealing his ideas; and he gets away with it because of everyone\'s sympathy for his handicap. Chip hopes his devious plan will drive a wedge between Tom and Sofia.

Directed by Jesse Peretz, The Ex is an occasionally funny mess. Stars Zach Braff and Jason Bateman have a natural chemistry that makes for a few really big laughs. Those laughs however, are random and not necessarily organic to this plot. The film falls back on physical humor often to cover lapses in the plot. Thankfully, both Braff and Bateman are game physical comics, they manage to sell the silly slapstick regardless of the plot constructs.

The Ex wants to be a black comedy about an evil parapalegic. It also wants elements of lighthearted romantic comedy, and there are still elements of the workplace comedy that the film used to be. It\'s a complicated mix that is likely why the film, though often laugh out loud funny, is so disjointed and confoundingly edited.

Jason Bateman would have made a terrific villain for a Farrelly Brothers comedy about a Machiavellian paraplegic. That is sort of the character he plays in The Ex, or it would be if the film had a more consistent tone. As it is, Bateman does what he can with a one note villain role that just happens to be a guy in a wheelchair.

Zach Braff is one of the most likable comic actors working today. Those of you missing his work on TV 's Scrubs are missing the biggest laughs on any sitcom on television. In The Ex, Braff uses that likability to sell a difficult and confused plot and helps to smooth over many of the bumps created by the films tortured rewrites and reshoots.

The behind the scenes story on The Ex may likely make for a funnier dark comedy than anything that is left on the screen in The Ex. Still, this is not a terrible film. A terrific cast delivers a few pretty solid laughs and works hard to help you overlook the many odd shifts in tone and focus. Zach Braff has bigger, better and funnier movies ahead of him, while Jason Bateman is assured a future as the go to supporting actor in a comedy. Together in The Ex they turn a potential disaster into a minor, forgettable trifle.

Movie Review The Last Kiss

The Last Kiss (2006) 

Directed by Tony Goldwyn 

Written by Paul Haggis 

Starring Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Casey Affleck, Rachel Bilson, Harold Ramis, Blythe Danner 

Release Date September 15th, 2006 

Published September 14th, 2006 

Having turned 30 years old this year I had not really thought about it as a milestone. When I was a kid 30 was old but now that I'm there I don't feel old. In fact I don't feel that much different than the little kid who thought 30 was old. Other than living on my own and having to clean up after myself; I still have some of my childhood hobbies, X-Box, baseball cards and such. The characters in Tony Goldberg's latest directorial effort The Last Kiss are just about to turn 30 and they are terrified. Facing things such as marriage, kids and mortgages, the characters in The Last Kiss face the kind of crises that most men save for their 50th birthday not the 30th.

Zach Braff leads a terrific ensemble in The Last Kiss as Michael; an architect who has just found out his girlfriend Jenna (Jascinda Barrett) is going to have a baby. The panic written on his face is masked by his good humor but is still quite apparent to his pals, Izzy (Michael Weston), Chris (Casey Affleck), and Kenny (Eric Christian Olson).

Michael's friends, like Michael are just about to turn 30 and are also facing grown up issues. Izzy just lost the girl he has loved since high school and is planning an escape to Mexico. Kenny is thinking of going with Izzy on the road trip, a desire that arises after a woman he met and had one night stand with tries introduce him to her parents. And then there is Chris; the only married man in the group. Chris and his wife Danielle (Lauren Lee Smith) have been struggling since having their baby boy and Chris thinks he wants out.

For Michael the troubling grown up thought has coalesced around one thing. If he commits to being with Jenna for the rest of his life she will be the last woman he will ever kiss, a haunting prospect for a 29 year old who feels his best years are still ahead of him. When a college girl, Kim (Rachel Bilson), approaches him at a wedding he see's her beauty but it is her youth that reminds him of his past. He still feels college was the best time of his life. When Michael chances a tryst with Kim it's out of fear of the future as much or more than simply lust.

Directed by Tony Goldwyn from a script by Oscar winner Paul Haggis, The Last Kiss is smart in the ways it draws out these characters and their conflicts. The problems come from the fact that these characters, are childish, selfish and petulant, not exactly the kind of people you go to the movies to meet. Now, there is something to be said for how truthful these characters, true to themselves and their established natures, that still does not make them enjoyable.

Then there is the ending that employs a gimmick in order to resolve the conflict between two central characters. Because neither Goldwyn or Haggis could think of a smarter more mature way to resolve the picture we are left with a character resorting to extreme stubbornness to bring the movie to its conclusion. It's not an egregious issue, nothing that would keep me from recommending this otherwise likable film but it does keep the film from rising from a good movie to a really good movie.

Zach Braff is is quickly becoming a welcome presence on the big screen. His debut in Garden State was a revelation as Braff shows chops as an actor and director. As an actor for hire in The Last Kiss, Braff is rumored to have punched up his dialogue a bit at the behest of director Tony Goldwyn. Whether it was Braff or writer Paul Haggis, the writing of Michael is the smartest thing in the film. It's a difficult role because Michael rarely does what we in the audience want him to do. He more than risks being likable but because he is played by Zach Braff we forgive easier than we might with another actor.

Jascinda Barrett is a rising star who I first noticed in the little seen drama The Human Stain. Since then she was a small but winning presence in Bridget Jones 2 and she managed to survive the abysmal remake Poseidon. It's not just her lovely spokesmodel features, Barrett has a real talent for finding the depths of her characters. In The Last Kiss she wonderfully plays Jenna's contentment early on and her stunned sadness later as he entire world crashes around her.

Barrett's Jenna is central to Michael's plot but she is also deeply inolved in the films best subplot. Veterans Blythe Danner and Tom Wilkinson play Jenna's parents. Wilkinson's therapist believes everything is fine as does his daughter but Danner shows that everything is not okay when she decides to reveal an affair she had three years prior to the films timeline and decides to leave her husband. Danner has a fabulous moment where she meets up with the man she cheated with and is sad to find he is now happily married.

Watching Barrett play off Wilkinson and Danner is lovely and grounds the film in maturity when it desperately needs it. Without this subplot the film would be nothing but childish posturing and male pattern whining.

Arrested development is a popular theme in 2006. Characters in movies as varied as the stoner comedy Grandma's Boy, the romantic comedy Failure To Launch, Owen Wilson's Dupree in You Me and Dupree and Vince Vaughn in The Break Up, are all examples of men with severe fears of commitment and growing up. It is as if adulthood has replaced Freddy Krueger as the boogeyman of modern times.

The Last Kiss is the most mature of the group of films which make what used to be called Peter Pan syndrome their subject. These characters are no more willing to grow up but are more thoughtful about the subject than the examples I cited before. By that measure; The Last Kiss is a worthy effort. It helps to have such a naturally funny cast to pull it off.