A Good Person felt pretty under the radar upon release. There had been a small amount of hype that got me excited, but when it comes to such a powerhouse lead cast, I was expecting so much more in marketing. That’s why, when it finally came out on streaming, I decided to finally give it a chance. Unfortunately, I was less than thrilled with the results.
The film follows Allison, a newly engaged musician who gets in a horrible car accident while driving her fiancé’s sister and her husband. Unfortunately, they both pass away in the accident while Allison survives, which throws her whole life upside down. The rest of the film shows Allie’s struggles as she tries to overcome opioid addiction as well as trying to make things right with her former in-laws.
A Good Person has a stellar cast. That cannot be denied. Between the strong performances from Morgan Freeman and Florence Pugh to solid supporting performances from Celeste O’Connor and Molly Shannon, I was impressed with how powerful the performances were. It was clear that they set out to create characters who were obviously flawed. Each had the ability to shine beyond these flaws. It was one of the most impressive parts of the film altogether.
Where the film struggles is in the story and pacing. At over 2 hours long, A Good Person feels bloated. There were times while I was watching where I wanted to turn it off. It just felt a half hour longer than it needed to be.
The film was also just so bleak. I get the need to tell a sad story, but Jesus was this film bleak. It felt at no point that anything good was going to develop. This made it difficult to keep me engaged. The vast majority of the film was just focusing on the negatives.
I also have to acknowledge how strange the incorporation of humor was in this film. It felt like the jokes and bits were added into the film solely for the purposes of being used in the trailer. These moments stood out to me like Shaquille O’Neal at a short person convention. I wish they just took these moments out and stuck to their bleak theme as that was clearly what they were going for.
Final Thoughts
It’s okay to have sad films. Hell, even downright depressing, soul sucking, no-fun-about-it films can be good. What A Good Person doesn’t do other films like Marriage Story or Manchester By The Sea do well is provide just the slightest hint of normalcy and belief that everything will be okay, only to tear it all apart. A Good Person hangs every inch of itself on the strong lead performances, but it never gave me that desire to believe that everything will work out okay. Couple that with a bloated runtime, and you’re left wondering what could have been. Not only with the car accident that kicks off the main conflict, but also with the magnitude of themes the film deals with.
