Rent A Good Person on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Zach Braff
Directed by: Zach Braff
Starring: Florence Pugh, Morgan Freeman, Celeste O'Connor, Chinaza Uche, Molly Shannon, Alex Wolff
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
Recovering from an unimaginable tragedy with an opioid addiction and unresolved grief, Allison forms an unlikely friendship.
Verdict
This is so ridiculously over dramatic. The movie desperately wants to be deep and every situation is so forced. There's a great story hidden in this movie, but it wants to hit you in the face with every improbable scene to prove the goal was accomplished. This wants to emotionally manipulate you, and the story being told never feels authentic.
Skip it.
Review
This paints an idyllic portrait of a newly engaged couple on the cusp of starting a life together. There's a bit of foreshadowing as Allison (Florence Pugh) discusses the morality of her job as a drug rep with her fiance Nathan (Chinaza Uche). This wastes little time getting into it. A tragic car accident leaves Allison addicted to opioids and her life a shambles as her mom tries to help her hold it all together. She ends up in a bar and realizes she needs help.
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| Florence Pugh, Morgan Freeman play Allison, Daniel |
Allison improbably meets Daniel (Morgan Freeman) at the first meeting she attends. It's improbable due to their past the sheer contrivance of meeting but he implores her to stay despite her reservations. She goes through the program and they become friends. They share a unique grief. While Allison only knew Daniel through his son Nathan, she discovers why they were estranged.
My problem with this is how over dramatic it can be. It wants to be relevant by referencing the opioid crisis, but it tries too hard to be a tearjerker. It's unlikely so many of these coincidental meetings would occur nor would we get these long winded conversations for exposition about pain and grief. These interactions feel completely scripted. This also uses 'my mom/daughter would want you to do this if she were here' a lot.
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| Florence Pugh plays Allison |
Daniel has all the reason in the world to hate Allison. I wondered if this friendship was his way to make up for his past transgressions as well as feeling compassion for someone struggling as he knows how that feels. The movie toys with his reasons, but doesn't do anything with it.
This movie tries so hard to be something and every situation is so forced. It pushes each character to such tragic circumstances. If it's going to do that, I wanted it to go all the way and wallow in that misery. Nearing the end, my concern was whether this movie would attempt a tie up all the loose ends with a bow. It would be a cop out to try to give this a happy ending. By the time we get to the come clean moment this movie had used up any good will it accumulated by pushing so hard and trying to wrest every bit of emotion out of the viewer in a way that felt like a trick. It's all a show. Worst of all, it doesn't feel authentic. In a rant towards the end Daniel claims he's a good person. That's incredibly ironic with what we know about him and no one questions it. The irony of this movie could be that both Allison and Daniel think they're good people despite their faults but the movie doesn't explore that. None of the characters question it. I don't think the movie knows the answer, and if that's true how am I supposed to guess?
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