Introduction:
Goodrich is a family drama set in the year 2024, which will be written and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer who has the reputation of combining comedy into familial dramas. Based on this movie, Michael Keaton plays the role of Andy Goodrich, a famous LA art dealer, whose life is disturbed by his wife, Naomie (Laura Benanti), who goes to rehab because of prescription drug addiction. Forced to look after Billie (Vivien Lyra Blair) and Mose, twin nine-year-olds, Andy is faced with the reality of broken men: a lousy father and a husband who is left to raise twins alone. Goodrich adapts and builds up a good storyline with excellent performances with touch on the tone of redemption, family, and individual transformation.
Release Date:
TO represents Goodrich at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival on 10th Sep 2024 and it got good reviews for it’s an emotional film that has a strong storyline. After the end of the film festival, the film was launched in theatres on October, 18th, 2024, where it received the audience’s love for heartwarming dramas.
Crew:
| Role | Name/s |
|---|---|
| Director | Hallie Meyers-Shyer |
| Producer | Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Kevin Mann, Dave Caplan |
| Story Writer | Hallie Meyers-Shyer |
| Editor | Lisa Zeno Churgin |
| Music Director | Christopher Willis |
Cast:
| Actor/Actress | Character Name |
|---|---|
| Mila Kunis | Grace Goodrich |
| Laura Benanti | Naomi |
| Nico Hiraga | Jonny |
| Liza Treyger | Comedian |
| Danny Deferrari | Pete |
| Noa Fisher | Tali |
| Kimberly Condict | Cecile |
| Sydney Miles | Iris |
| Carlos Ragas | The Bald Man |
| Shannon Bengston | Goth Clerk |
Story:
The storyline centers around Andy Goodrich (Michael Keaton) an art dealer, who going through a comfortable lifestyle and finds out that his wife has check-into rehabilitation. Stuck between job and family, Andy had to become a father for his two-year-old twins more than ever during the consequences of Naomie’s disease.
Key Plot Points
- Naomie’s Departure: The first scene of the movie is Naomie’s call to Andy in the middle of the night telling him she is checking herself into rehab. This most traumatic event provides the backdrop to Andy’s development throughout the film.
- Fatherhood Challenges: When Naomie leaves the house for ninety days, Andy is left to look after Billie and Mose most of the time. At first, Violet becomes a burden that he cannot handle the day-to-day needs while at the same time running an art gallery.
- Reconnecting with Family: When he has child-rearing issues, Andy develops a better relationship with the kids. He goes to the school functions, realizes their hobbies, and tries to console them during the stormy teenage years.
- Professional Struggles: At the same time Andy suffers at work as his gallery is in big financial problems. He wants to seduce the daughter of a recently deceased artist to get his paintings exhibited; which could help him revive his faltering business.
- Climactic Resolution: Concerning the part of the climax, the film creates an opportunity where Andy has to be punished for his wrong deeds before his children, and make reconciliation with Naomie. This boy’s story is shot warmly and lovingly which underlines his find of his family and the meaning of forgiveness.
This book masterfully intertwines love, salvation, and changes of heart with an emphasis on how people manage life’s experience.
Review:
Critics have appeared to like Goodrich. Critics love the series for its clear and recognizable characters and appreciate its emotional depth, whereas others claim it’s slow.
Positives:
- Strong Performances: Michael Keaton was first-rate as Andy Goodrich, who in turn was amazing both in strength and weakness. Another believable and good performance by the supporting cast to well fortify the storyline of the movie.
- Heartfelt Storytelling: This film indeed gives the viewers the presentation of the family and individual’s struggle making it relatable for the audience.
- Humor and Emotion: It seems to be agreeable that; while the integers employed to generate humor serve as a relief, and to entertain the audience, the density of the storyline and dramatic portrayal adds depth, which makes the content and message profound.
Negatives:
- Pacing Issues: A few contributors addressed that some portions of the exposition were perceived as rather sluggish and therefore could provide little interest.
- Predictable Plot Elements: However, with the audacious engaging moves, certain moments will have Fans of family dramas feel similarities, predictable ones at that.
- Character Development: While the main characters are complex enough in conversation and relationships, it is possible to have a sense that some of the supporting cast are not fully realized.
Technical Aspects:
It is approximately 111 minutes long and Goodrich can explore characters and themes and not overstay its welcome.
- Cinematography: The work of a director of photography David Mullen is to maintain both the look and feel of Los Angeles, as well as the mood between the characters. Thus, the principle of natural lighting is applied to enrich emotional scenes, as well as to form an atmosphere for viewers.
- Direction: What defines Hallie Meyers-Shyer’s direction is a marriage between laughter and emotionality. She is great at setting the mood so that viewers get to identify with Andy’s character as well as sets high suspense motion throughout the movie.
- Editing: The editing is good, more specifically the pace is well-established yet it stumbles slightly between scenes. Occasionally, a shot or two would have been well-spiced up with a more precise edit of the scene.
Performance:
- There is Michael Keaton in the role of Andy Goodrich: Michael Keaton does amazing work as Andy Goodrich. He gets the heightened, sensitive stupidity of his character across well while dealing with the emotions of a family man. Their performances say so much Keaton especially is excellent showing the strong sorrow that Andy has to progress through the movie.
- Laura Benanti as Naomie: In this play, Laura Benanti is remarkable as Naomie. Her acting properly reflects the problem that a person suffering from addiction faces and the wants of her character. Benanti added facets to Naomie’s situation with Andy giving her arc dimensions that would have otherwise been absent.
- Supporting Cast: Some major performances support the movie; meanwhile, there are some characters, whose potential is insufficient to stir people’s hearts emotionally.
- Vivien Lyra Blair as Billie: Though not particularly talented as a leading actress Vivien Lyra Blair does a good job portraying Billie as innocent and quite determined during the trial. What comes with this provocative entry are tender-some scenes of her sharing scenes with Keaton.
Moviepoptime Review:
Goodrich is not completely confident in the beginning, but he gets better as he goes along, and certainly for the last two scenes. There are a couple of beautiful and touching scenes and at the same time, the first act is quite wordy and unconvincingly merging plot information. Instead of spending a lot of scenes dialoguing, much more could have been spent depicting the change in the relationship between Goodrich and his eldest daughter—Grace. However, more focus and time are paid to the rather – uninteresting conflict between Goodrich and Michael Urie’s character, Terry.
Furthermore, the movie seems to lack envisaging, normality in serious scenes that is inaptly interjected with funny lines that dry up the deep emotions of the scenes. As much as it tries to, “Goodrich” does get the job done just a little with what could have been the even more effective and better facilitated emotional climax of the characters. For a second-degree directorial stint, it was quite satisfactory.
Conclusion:
Goodrich is an excellent portrayal of the family and personality transformations that come with the lens of drama packed full of emotion. Such characters and narration in its episodes make it respond well to the aspects of forgiveness as it also engages the audience all through.
Although it may sometimes have some difficulty in describing the flow of events and any tropes inherent in the family drama related to the protagonist’s overcoming an addiction, its strengths originate in exploring a complex personal experience of a person that contributes to portraying the problem both at a micro- and macro-level. Thus, they are the entertainment and a critique of the present-day challenges that people meet in their interpersonal interactions.
All in all, Goodrich offers insight regarding reasons fans of family dramas should watch their chosen title and get a load of character-based stories that will make them contemplate love and grief. Its release in theaters allows devotees the opportunity to get entertained while they wait for poignant showings that detail the importance of family. During the process of watching Andy’s struggle for self-redemption and shaping viewers’ concept of conflict and discovery, this movie points to more profound questions about forgiveness and the nature of revitalized society – that is why it is not only about redemption but about the role of human being in the world with shockingly complicated issues.
Also Read: Exhibiting Forgiveness Movie Review