Movie Review: A Good Person, starring Florence Pugh, Morgan Freeman

Florence Pugh can do no wrong.

For those of you who may live under a rock, Pugh has had standout performance after standout performance the last few years. Whether it be in the uneven, ‘Don’t Worry Darling,’ the also uneven ‘Fighting with My Family,’ the twisted ‘Midsommar,’ or ‘Oppenheimer,’ Pugh is on fire.

With A Good Person, Pugh is on top of her game once again. She’s joined by Morgan Freeman, who is also better than he’s been in years. While Zac Braff’s new film about overcoming a tragic accident will not bring anything new to the table, it is the performances of Pugh and Freeman that make this film a must see.

Pugh plays Allison. Allison has a great career, a loving fiance, and a great family and friends. Everything seems to be going great for her and then tragedy strikes. Allison finds herself the sole survivor of a horrific accident. After recovering physically, the pain and guilt consume her. Her life spins out of control, as she becomes addicted to opiates. It’s an all too real tale.

When Allison tries to get help, she runs into her former future father-in-law Daniel, played masterfully by Freeman. Freeman is also grief stricken, forced to raise his motherless teenage granddaughter. He blames Allison for the carnage in his life, but soon realizes that they can help each other.

Written and directed by Braff, who seems more interested in putting sappy indie-rock tunes over scenes, rather than letting his actors act, the film succeeds despite his shortcomings as a director. The film is a slow burn, two-hour therapy session. Anyone who has ever dealt with grief or starting over will identify with Pugh and Freeman’s respective characters.

While the film is strong for the first hour, it really bogs down after, only to be redeemed in the end. Much of that is because of Pugh and Freeman. Pugh puts her entire self into her character, no matter the film. She not only embodies her character, but she becomes them. Watching her in any film is worth the time or price alone. Freeman, who is always a joy to watch in any role, finally gets a role worth sinking his teeth into. He is quite believable as a grieving grandfather.

I wouldn’t be doing the film justice without mentioning Molly Shannon. She plays Allison’s mother. While corky and goofy at times, Shannon really evokes the emotion of a parent struggling with not just her daughter’s grief, but her own. It’s just a shame, she wasn’t in a few more scenes in the film.

Overall, A Good Person, is not perfect, and much of that is because of Braff’s failure to grow as a director. This film could have been something wonderful, but due to a lacking script and poor direction at times, it sputters in the middle. Thanks to the wonderful performances in the film, namely by Pugh and Freeman’s charisma and ability to connect, A Good Person is definitely worth checking out.

A Good Person gets a B.

A Good Person is available on Amazon Prime.