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Plot Summary: Follows Allison, whose life falls apart following her involvement in a fatal accident.

Director: Zach Braff

Writer: Zach Braff

Runtime: 2 hours 9 minutes

• Florence Pugh as Allison
• Morgan Freeman as Daniel
• Celeste O'Connor as Ryan
• Molly Shannon as Diane

Review by: Samuel

What I Didn’t Like

We will start with what I didn’t like because there is nothing. Zach Braff has crafted a gem that will likely not get the attention it deserves.

What I Liked

There is so much to like in the two-hour runtime of the story Zach Braff wrote and directed amazingly, that Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman acted in amazingly, and that the DP shot amazingly. It would take two hours to discuss in full, but I think the one thing that highlights the movie’s strength is that it will make you feel…something. For me, it was sadness that eventually turned to hope, for the person I saw it with it was sadness mixed with fear, for someone else we spoke with it was anger and frustration. A movie hasn’t made me feel the way I felt like “A Good Person” did, in years. The framing device for the story is a car crash at the beginning of the film that tragically takes the life of a husband and wife. The couple who died were the future brother-in-law and sister-in-law of the woman who was driving- Florence Pugh’s Ally. The wife of the couple was the daughter of Morgan Freeman’s Daniel- a man estranged from his son (Ally’s fiancé); and, the couple left behind a teenage daughter, Ryan, who Daniel now has to take care of.

A few months later we see the impact the crash had on each of them. Daniel is depressed and hiding his anger. Ryan is now rebellious and on the verge of being expelled from high school, and Ally has become a recluse in her mother’s house after calling off her engagement. Ally has also become addicted to opioids to help drown out the physical and mental pain from the crash. It is this addiction that leads her to bump into Daniel (a recovering alcoholic) at a support group, which leads to an interesting relationship between the two.

The performances each character gives are so incredibly believable and powerful. Clearly, the actors and director did research to encapsulate the horror of addiction and the damage it can cause to the individual and people around them. They also do a phenomenal job of showing how grief can impact a once-rational mind. Every word, decision, and action taken is a direct result of their pain and you as an audience member cannot help but empathize.

Empathy is the name of the game and while all characters will make you feel something for them, I think the beauty of the film is that it will hit each person differently. For example, I was so invested in Ally’s journey to the point I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see if she would relapse or not because her pain spoke to me so much. I was seriously more invested in the decisions Ally would make than I have been in recent outings to watch superheroes fight (which I love).  Meanwhile, my buddy was interested to see how Daniel was coping with the loss of his daughter -since he has suffered a serious car accident in the past himself. It was at that point he took off his Apple Watch and shut off his phone completely to avoid any distractions. The movie really pulls you in, and I honestly believe it will speak to you on some level no matter who you are.

Performances aside, the movie wouldn’t work if basic elements such as plot and pacing were a mess. I am happy to report this is a competently told narrative that goes through a believable stretch of people’s lives and doesn’t waste a moment of runtime. It would be easy (and to the film’s detriment) to show Ally and Daniel depressed the whole film, then suddenly be okay in the end after overcoming one obstacle. But, the realism I speak of is shown in that they mess up…a lot.  It is one step forward and two steps back with both of them, so you don’t actually know if a “happy” ending is coming. It works because grief, depression, and addiction are not things you can just get over with a can-do attitude and I am so grateful to this film for portraying them as such.

For what it’s worth, this is not an entirely sad outing. There are quite a few laughs along the way with each character having his/her own quirk that will bring a smile to your face. You will laugh, you will learn, you might cry, and you’ll love every second of it.