Good Grief

Good Grief
Starring Daniel Levy, Ruth Negga, Himesh Patel, Luke Evans
Directed by Daniel Levy

Grief is an interesting thing. It's a deep sorrow one feels after the death of someone close to them, but grief has no concept of time, perception, or manner. It can last a few days, a few years, or a lifetime. It can be as deep as the soul or as superficial as a solitary tear. It can be expressed in fits of rage, anger, shouting and crying, or quiet internal reflection and silence. There's no way to really measure grief and thus it's impossible to really understand its process. "Good Grief" doesn't try to reason with it, but instead tells a deeply personal story of a man's year-long struggle with his own grief as well as his close friends who also struggle with their own issues while trying to be there for their friend.

Marc (Dan Levy) is married to successful writer Oliver (Luke Evans), and during a Christmas party Oliver leaves to travel for a book signing when he's killed in a car crash. Marc's friends Sophie (Ruth Negga) and Thomas (Himesh Patel) stay with Marc throughout his grief journey while both struggle with their own issues - Sophie is a neurotic mess who hides her emotions and feelings, while Thomas is a hardened man who doesn't believe in love anymore. As the one-year anniversary of Oliver's death approaches, they convince Marc to open Oliver's Christmas card to him, and Marc discovers Oliver was seeing someone else in Paris and he owns a flat there. He decides to take his friends to Paris under the guise of a vacation to remember Oliver when in reality he's looking to get rid of it, and during their time in Paris their friendship is tested to the breaking point as Marc struggles to grieve as well as deal with Oliver's final betrayal.


The Good:
Dan Levy is a phenomenal comedic actor as proven in  "Schitt's Creek," and proved his metal by not just earning an Emmy for acting, but also for producing, writing, and directing in it. So taking his talent to the "big" screen ("big" in quotations because "Good Grief" was a Netflix exclusive) was the next logical step. He did a great job in his first outing as director, writer, and star of a film, while allowing himself room to grow for future endeavors. The film is a deep look at grief and how it affects not just the person grieving, but those around them as well. Marc is a troubled man who is suppressing his grief by turning to different outlets - when his mother died, he turned to Oliver, and now he's turning to his friends after Oliver's death. It might not be the best grieving mechanism, but at least he has outlets he can rely on and not be in his struggle alone.

Ruth Negga is one of the most underestimated actresses in recent memory, delivering compelling performances in shows like "Preacher" and films like "Loving" and "Passing." Here she plays Sophie, a woman with a heart of gold but who also is a neurotic mess as she deals with her boyfriend breaking up with her in increasingly unhealthy ways, but also proves herself as Marc's best friend by being there for him for a whole year and helping him through his grief. Her performance is layered and thought-out, even though she doesn't get enough solitary moments to shine.

Himseh Patel also excels in his performance of Thomas, Marc's ex and also his best friend who also has his own demons he's dealing with, most pronounced of them lacking an ability to open up to anyone. He's standoffish and cold toward anyone not in his close circle of friends, and you can sense a deep longing still for acceptance and love.

These three work extremely well off one another and it's easy to understand them being best friends for a while, because that's how they come off. Sophie and Thomas are the best friends anyone would be lucky to have - willing to put their own problems aside to help Marc through his insurmountable grief. Yet in doing so they also open themselves up to their own struggles that all come to a head in Paris, spiraling the friendship downward to a point where it could almost never be brought back. The performances here are profound and deep, and lack the melodrama you'd expect from moments like this - which is something I greatly appreciated.

The film has a sense of realism to it that exists from the first scene to the last, as Marc never delves into grief that's been expressed in films before: with him screaming his lungs out, throwing everything around, and isolating himself from his friends and loved ones. He deals with grief in a different way, and in a way that probably many people do: by suppressing his emotions and struggling with the different emotions he's dealing with. We don't always deal with one emotion at a time, but have to balance many different emotions in a healthy way. While Marc's attempt isn't necessarily healthy, it's what he needs in order to get past his grief, with the help of his friends.


The Bad:
We don't get enough story on Sophie or Thomas apart from their one flaw that's magnified by the end, and it would've been nice to see them develop more than just support partners for Marc, especially Ruth Negga, who can do no wrong.

There's a part in the film where Marc meets a new man named Theo that seemingly forms a romantic relationship, but it's oddly disjointed and lacking any real depth or emotion and seems thrown in for Marc to be able to move on.


The Summary:
While not a perfect film encapsulating the theme of grief, "Good Grief" is still a good start for Dan Levy's film directorial debut that allows him room to grow and mature as a filmmaker while providing a decently acted study on grief and the power of friendship.


The Score: B+