Goodrich
A movie review by Alex First
Goodrich is a coming-of-age story about a man whose life has been consumed by work.
Andy Goodrich (Michael Keaton) has owned a boutique art gallery in Los Angeles for 28 years.
He loves the gallery and the people he employs, but he has hit hard times professionally.
He has a swish home and twins – Mose (Jacob Kopera) and Billie (Vivien Lyra Blair) – both aged nine, whom he shares with his second wife, Naomi (Laura Benanti).
His first marriage to fellow gallery owner Ann (Andie MacDowell) ended after 14 years.
They have a beautiful, intelligent, 36-year-old daughter, Grace (Mila Kunis), who is married to doctor Pete (Danny Deferrari).
Grace is pregnant with their first child, Andy’s first grandchild.
Suddenly, Andy is woken in the middle of the night by a phone call from his wife Naomi.
To his shock, she tells him that she has checked herself into rehab for 90 days because she is addicted to prescription medication.
Further, she says she is leaving him because they lead totally separate lives and she is as good as invisible.
Suddenly, it is up to Andy to step up for his family, something he is not used to doing and that presents its fair share of challenges.
As much as Grace loves her dad, he was never there for her like she wanted him to be and all these years later she remains mad at him for that.
Now he is still torn between commitments, including those to Grace’s stepsister and stepbrother.
And then there is the issue of the increasing debt faced by Andy’s beloved gallery.
Although for the most part Andy remains upbeat, navigating these waters is going to be no easy feat.
Goodrich was inspired by the likes of Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Terms of Endearment (1983).
Complex family dynamics have always been at the centre of the films that writer and director Hallie Meyers-Shyer (Home Again) loved most.
They are the kind of stories she has always wanted to tell.
So it is that Goodrich is bittersweet. Mind you, it lacks the quality of the movies that Meyers-Shyer was inspired by.
As easy a watch as it is (and it is certainly that), I felt that it didn’t know whether it wanted to be a heartfelt drama or a syrupy comedy.
As such, it felt too orchestrated.
For all the genuinely moving moments (and there are several), there were others that appeared set up to be cheesy.
While Michael Keaton displays range, it was Mila Kunis who really shone in a beautifully nuanced performance that felt real. She has the greatest emotional depth.
Still, many of the others show heart, just as the characters have been written.
For instance, Vivien Lyra Blair is untroubled delivering some difficult home truths.
There is also much merit in the performance of Carmen Ejogo as Lola, the jazz singer daughter of a recently passed artist whose work Andy wants to display.
So, Goodrich the movie certainly means well and excels on occasion, but falls short of what it could have been.
Rated M, it scores a 6 to 6½ out of 10. Runtime 111mins