The Good Half, 2024.
Directed by Robert Schwartzman.
Starring Nick Jonas, Brittany Snow, Matt Walsh, David Arquette, Alexandra Shipp, Elisabeth Shue, Mason Cufari, Dee Beasnael, Ryan Bergara, Grey Henson, Mimi Gianopulos, Steve Park, Evangeline Johns, and Jim C. Ferris.
SYNOPSIS:
Renn Wheeland returns home to Cleveland for his mother’s funeral. Once there, he forges new relationships while healing old ones before confronting his problems and trying to face his grief.
For a film about returning home to Cleveland for a funeral, director Robert Schwartzman’s The Good Half is surprisingly busy. It’s also not meaningful since the script from Brett Ryland also paints in broad strokes. On the flight home, Nick Jonas’ Renn Wheeland (the character names are almost as chaotic as the film’s questionable tonal shifts) meets young therapist Zoey (Alexandra Shipp), heading to Cleveland for a work-related convention. Even though there is some chemistry there, Renn is too closed off and hurting even to begin contemplating therapy as a useful and productive tool to better himself. The greater frustration is the simple question of why this film about grieving and mourning within a dysfunctional family (more on them soon) even needs a love interest. Surely, there is a more naturalistic method of suggesting this guy needs some therapy.
Renn, a writer grappling with whether he wants to continue pursuing that career, is fairly negative. While preparing for his mother’s (played by Elisabeth Shue in flashbacks) eulogy, he prefers to list off things she hated, swearing that she wouldn’t have even liked hearing people celebrate her for what she did like. He also can’t help himself from coping with a smug sense of humor about the entire situation, regularly getting into arguments with his mom’s unfaithful second husband, Rick (David Arquette), who, by the way, is relaxed and handling the grieving stage much better.
Everyone grieves differently is one of the primary messages here, with the other using flashbacks and flash-forwards as a way to show how much of our parents blends its way into our personalities (Renn also remarks that his mom absolutely hated coming across someone in public that she didn’t want to talk to, meaning that 15 minutes later we get a similar scene of him also doing that.) There is also a glimpse into what the film’s title represents, which comes down to how Renn was always the favorite child, not his sister Leigh (Brittany Snow.) This is also the kind of film that needs characters to say the title in a manner practically spoon-feeding the point.
That also doesn’t necessarily mean The Good Half is a bad movie, but it is a surface-level experience that doesn’t deeply dive into the specifics between these characters, operating under the belief that having themes and gesturing toward them is enough. There is no strong understanding of the marriage between the mom and her goofy first husband Darren (an amusing Matt Walsh), or what ways Renn was the favored child or a meaningful exploration into why the second marriage lasted until his mom’s death. Considering that most of the runtime is an otherwise solid Nick Jonas being irritating and making passive-aggressive jokes toward others, finding the good in either half becomes a struggle.
Bizarrely, the finale turns into a home invasion heist, undercutting anything serious about The Good Half was trying to get out while also destroying tonal consistency in a manner that doesn’t do anything for the characters or film beyond merely extending it another 20 minutes. It’s as if the filmmakers decided the whole movie was pretty downbeat and that there needed to be something silly to send people home happy. Remember, throughout all of this, there is that previously mentioned romantic subplot shoved in here, coming and going without grace. Never afraid to go for the low-hanging fruit; there’s a strong case to be made that neither half is good here, which is a shame since the story at least feels real until it goes off the rails.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
