Films for Breakfast

Michael Keaton is an actor who immediately elevates any material he’s given. He makes funny lines funnier, dramatic moments more powerful, and simply has enough charisma to carry an entire film – he’s one of the only reasons The Flash was tolerable for me. While he has turned in quite a bit of dramatic work in the last few years and even received an Academy Award nomination for his performance in Birdman, it always feels nice to see him in a film like Goodrich; not quite as dramatic as something like Spotlight, but cozier than Batman or Beetlejuice. Goodrich‘s biggest strength lies within its simplicity and how it feels like an old-fashioned, PG-13 familial drama that would once stick around at the box office for months.

The film follows Andy Goodrich (Michael Keaton), a father whose life is upended when his wife/mother of his younger children checks herself into a 90-day rehab facility. With Andy left to his own devices to take care of his nine-year-old children, he reaches out to his older, first daughter from his original marriage, Grace (Mila Kunis), for help. While this starts as simply trying to navigate the curveball life has thrown at him, Andy finds himself trying to evolve into the father that Grace never had.

On paper, Goodrich sounds extremely familiar… and you know what? Even in execution, it feels extremely familiar. I can almost promise anyone reading this that they can predict how the story will unfold if they tried to guess. However, as I previously stated, Michael Keaton is simply one of those performers who does so much heavy-lifting. While Goodrich isn’t destined to get him another Oscar nomination, it’s nice to see him in a role that is simultaneously familiar with roles he played in the 90s/80s as a father with young children, yet also grapples with his older age. This is an old-fashioned performance from him that utilizes both his charm and his dramatic chops in equal measure.

The supporting cast here is also quite good – Mila Kunis turns in some solid work as Andy’s older, somewhat-estranged daughter. The two work off of one-another quite well and make-up a few of the films best dramatic moments. On the flip side, he also works greatly with the kids who play his younger children, Mose (Jacob Kopera) and Billie (Vivien Lyra Blair) – a lot of the funniest moments of the film spawn from his chemistry with them and their oddball pairing. Vivien Lyra Blair in particular gives one of the most charismatic performances from a child I’ve seen in quite sometime – I wouldn’t be surprised at all if she gets a lot more work after this releases.

Director Hallie Meyers-Shyer, daughter of Nancy Meyers, is clearly going down a similar filmmaking path as her mother – crafting almost universally accessible dramas that are both cozy and intimate yet not afraid to be dramatic at times. While I didn’t see Hallie’s debut film, Home Again, I was fairly impressed by her writing and direction here. She knows when to restrain the drama, but also isn’t afraid to let her films become sincere with their emotion. The only real knock I can give the film is that at times the film does feel like it is implementing one story too many within its screenplay; none of these stories are bad, but the combination of all these different plot threads inherently make the others feel a bit thin due to having to share the space with the others.

However, in a an age where it’s so hard to find a traditional family drama with great actors, I’ll take a film that is slightly overstuffed if it delivers a sincere and thoughtful story. Goodrich certainly won’t reinvent the wheel, but there is something incredibly old-fashioned about its presentation – it feels like something my Mom would’ve dragged me to see at a matinee or rented from Blockbuster when I was a kid, yet found more to appreciate within as I got older. I hope families give the film a shot, because it’s such a pleasant surprise that affirms the importance of mid-budget films.

3.5/5