A Good Person

Whoever had “Zach Braff making the best narrative film thus far about the opioid impact” on their 2023 bingo card should go out and buy a lottery ticket, pronto.

In hindsight, the writer/director’s distinct brand of grounded sincerity is an ideal fit for exploring modern grief, addiction, and recovery, but he’s seemed sidelined for so long that his powerful new film, A Good Person, feels like it snuck up on moviegoers — and it’s a thoroughly welcome surprise.

Eschewing the forced after-school special urgency of Nicholas Jarecki’s Crisis, Braff opts for a more organic tale, keeping his focus on Allison (Florence Pugh) and letting related subtopics ripple from her struggles. Set up for a life of bliss with fiancé Nathan (Chinaza Uche, Dickinson) until a tragic accident shatters their bond in expected and unexpected ways, she’s flailing a year after the incident, living back at home in New Jersey with her mom Diane (Molly Shannon) and addicted to OxyContin.

Out of prescriptions and jonesing for a fix, Allison seeks pills through various means that don’t sugarcoat the perilousness of her situation. Having seen her former bubbliness, Allison’s descent into lying and manipulation is extra painful to behold, and Pugh convincingly channels the specific desperation of a junkie.

Elsewhere in South Orange, Nathan’s estranged, recovering alcoholic father Daniel (Morgan Freeman, relishing each F-bomb) is at his wit’s end raising granddaughter Ryan (Celeste O’Connor, Ghostbusters: Afterlife), and Braff presents their distinct pain with a similar honesty. When Allison hits a new low and finally gives group therapy a shot, her path crosses with her would-be father-in-law and the fractured families become re-entangled in fascinating new ways.

While the above assessments highlight A Good Person’s gut-punch dramatic strengths, the tough moments are complemented by plenty of realistic, tension-lightening humor. This potent mix has been the cornerstone of Braff’s filmmaking over the past 20 years, and his cast of pros and relative newcomers handle his script’s complexities with authentic grace.

However, similar to the workmanlike visual approach of his charming 2017 Going in Style remake — which also happens to be Freeman’s last respectable role — the visual panache of Braff’s first two films is largely absent. While the blurriness when Allison gets high is effective, a barely stylized exit from a party plays like the sedate cousin of the “Lebanese Blonde” sequence from Garden State, and some questionable cuts within certain shots feel jarringly amateurish.

But such aberrations don’t detract from the finely-tuned, honest human interactions at the heart of A Good Person. In a perfect world, the film would enjoy a similar cultural embrace as Braff’s delightful debut, but for those fortunate enough to encounter it, the palpable emotional rewards will linger in comparable ways.

Grade: B-plus. Rated R. Now playing at Carolina Cinemark and Grail Moviehouse

(Photos: MGM Films)