A Good Person, movie review

The statement "hurt people hurt people" is often used to express the idea that patterns repeat unless people take action to change them. However, sometimes only those who have experienced hurt themselves can truly help others who are also hurting. They have the credibility to share what they have learned and to provide examples of how to improve and feel better. This is where support groups can be invaluable, especially for those struggling with addiction, illness, loss, or abuse.

In the film "A Good Person," three deeply hurt individuals come together to help each other. The movie, written and directed by Zach Braff, features touching performances by Morgan Freeman and Florence Pugh. Both actors portray characters who are grappling with devastating failures and their tragic consequences as they seek to find a way forward.

Compared to Braff's previous films, "Garden State" and "Wish I Was Here," "A Good Person" is more conventional in its structure and thankfully less self-indulgent. However, it still possesses Braff's shrewd sense of character and detail, tackling ambitious themes such as addiction, abuse, abandonment, overwhelming grief, and forgiveness. Ultimately, the film explores what it means to be a good person.

Pugh plays Alison, a carefree young woman who lives life on the surface and doesn't delve too deeply into her choices. She is engaged to Nathan (played by Chinaza Uche), and she's making a lot of money working as a pharmaceutical sales representative. She convinces herself that her work is not immoral because she's only promoting a drug that treats a skin disease.

One day, while driving her future sister- and brother-in-law to the city to help pick out her wedding dress, Alison takes her eyes off the road for a few seconds to check her phone near a construction site. She collides with a backhoe, killing her passengers and injuring herself.

A year later, the teenage daughter of the couple who died, Ryan (played by Celeste O'Connor), lives with her grandfather, Daniel (Morgan Freeman). The adjustment is challenging for both of them as Ryan is hostile and acting out, and Alison lies on her mother's couch all day in a fog of oxycontin addiction. Her engagement is broken, her mother is running out of patience, and her doctors are cutting off her prescriptions.

Desperate for more drugs, Alison seeks help from Daniel, who has been sober for a decade after battling alcoholism. He finds comfort in his model train set, a place where he has control and can even recreate his own history. Though the screenplay has some structural issues, with addiction taking up too much time, the sharp dialogue and committed performances by Freeman and Pugh hold the movie together.

Pugh's performance as Alison is particularly noteworthy, as she portrays every stage of the character's struggle with addiction in a remarkably specific way. Whether she's buzzed or "blissfully numb," frantic to get pills or in the midst of detoxing, Pugh conveys Alison's emotions with great sensitivity. In one scene, Alison runs into some people she once looked down upon, and we see layers of her self-image peel away. In another, she tries to break a pill in half, hoping to fool people into thinking she's not high. But Freeman, in a touching moment, sees through her facade. He encourages her gently, with conflicts of his own, but their shared experience of pain allows him to recognize when Alison is using.

Overall, "A Good Person" strips its characters down to their essentials, and at its best moments, the movie does the same for the audience. Despite its flaws, the film presents a poignant story of individuals coming together to help each other overcome their pain and become better people.