A GOOD PERSON

The story of a woman named Allison (Florence Pugh) who causes a car crash that kills her fiancé’s sister and his sister’s husband and her subsequent descent into self-loathing and drug addiction before seeking redemption, A GOOD PERSON is an alternately gritty and beautiful look at addiction, loss, forgiveness and reconciliation.

Allison is a joyful, vibrant woman in her 20s excitedly looking forward to her impending wedding to Nathan (Chinaza Uche), when she causes a car accident that kills his sister and his sister’s husband. The story jumps to one year later, where Allison is a full-blown opioid addict living in chaos and in a terrible relationship with her mother (Molly Shannon) until she hits bottom and joins an AA meeting in a church that’s unexpectedly attended by Nathan’s father, Daniel, played by Morgan Freeman.

As Daniel tries to forgive Allison and build a relationship with her, his embittered 16-year-old granddaughter, Ryan (Celeste O’Connor), is upset because she lost her parents in the crash. He also struggles with the temptation to drink. This temptation is not only because of the loss of his daughter, but also because he’s also trying to forgive himself and rebuild his relationship with his son, Nathan, which was ruined by Daniel’s abusive parenting when his children were young.

Can Allison, Daniel and Ryan forge a friendship despite the tragic odds they’re overcoming? Can Daniel and Nathan overcome their many years of separation? Will Allison be able to make a successful recovery from addiction and restart her life in a healthy way?

Powerfully written and directed by Zach Braff (GARDEN STATE and SCRUBS), the movie’s first act is relentlessly ugly while capturing the chaos and immorality of a drug addict’s life. However, when Allison seeks recovery in an AA meeting, the movie settles into a much calmer and far more moral tale of Allison’s struggle to live her life right and make peace with those she’s hurt.

Viewers should be warned that the movie’s first half hour is packed with foul language, and severe drug use. The rest of the movie, however, makes it clear that Writer/Director Zach Braff is creating a wrong-vs.-right view of Allison’s life, as the story becomes peaceful and beautifully thoughtful once she attends the AA meetings in a church.

One big downside of the movie, however, is its casual depiction of teenage sex. The grandfather catches his 16-year-old granddaughter having an affair with a 20-year-old man, which Daniel strongly disapproves. The movie has an approving tone when Daniel chastises and manhandles the young man. However, Allison and Ryan convince Daniel that expecting abstinence is futile since “all teenagers are having sex” [which is not true], and, regrettably, he helps Ryan obtain birth control.

A GOOD PERSON is an absolutely terrific, redemptive movie. It takes an unflinching look at tragic family issues, but it thankfully has a happy ending. Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman as the recovery addict and the grandfather deliver excellent, Oscar-worthy performances. Ultimately, Writer/Director Zach Braff has fashioned a wise, deeply affecting movie that is regrettably excessive in its foul language, drug use, wrong comment that every teenager is doing sex, and condoning birth control for a teenagers.