Zach Braff’s film stars Florence Pugh as Allison who develops an addiction to prescription painkillers after being involved in a car accident that killed her fiancée’s sister and prospective brother-in-law. Trying, and failing, to cope with her grief she forges an unlikely friendship with her would be father-in-law, Daniel (Morgan Freeman).
It did not seem promising for A Good Person. It arrived with bad reviews and starts with the tired trope of a Morgan Freeman voiceover. Furthermore, Allison is quite unlikeable for much of the running time, not admitting her culpability and spiralling out of control. However, the performances really elevate things. Pugh is great as always, Freeman is given a rare, in recent years, chance to show his chops and Zoe Lister-Jones, from the underrated sitcom Life in Pieces, steals every scene she is in as Allison’s sponsor.
The screenplay, also by Braff, does lapse into indie-movie cliches at times, though it does feature one exceptional scene with Allison and Daniel in a diner. It is worth watching for the performances.
Rating: 7 out of 10