R | 1h 50m | Comedy, Drama | Oct. 18, 2024
Boutique art gallery owner Andy Goodrich’s (Michael Keaton) life is turned upside down when his wife—the mother of their 9-year-old twins (Laura Benanti)—leaves the family stranded by entering a 90-day rehab program. Inspired by films like “Terms Of Endearment” and “Kramer vs. Kramer,” this is the harsh family dynamic at the core of the very mild “Goodrich.”
Andy’s completely blindsided by his wife’s actions. Having rarely been physically or emotionally present for his kids, he’s also clueless as to what present and proactive dads actually do. He therefore leans heavily on Grace (Mila Kunis), his 30-something daughter from his first marriage to Ann (Andie MacDowell). Grace happens to be pregnant with her first child. Slowly, over the course of the movie, Andy evolves into the dad Grace always wished she’d had. Better late than never.
Performances
Andy’s kids, Billie (Vivien Lyra Blair) and Jonny (Nico Hiraga) bring a bit of comedy to a serious subject. Terry (Michael Urie) is a fellow school dad who’s also an actor with a tendency to cry at the drop of a hat. He’s got a little bit of a crush on Andy (another mild source of comedy). British actress Carmen Ejogo plays a prospective client whose recently deceased, famous artist mother’s estate Andy would very much like to acquire.
Kunis provides the meat of the drama as Andy’s first-family daughter who had to endure the brunt of an unavailable dad. Everything and everyone came before her. This abandonment left her with the complex emotional stew of wanting to, as she says, always run into his arms and slap him at the same time.
The movie’s best scene features a raw moment of honesty about all the rage she’s built up, watching Andy finally start stepping into true dad-hood for her much younger half-siblings. It all comes pouring out of her, literally and figuratively, when her water breaks (she’s of course rushing to a doctor’s appointment with a very late Andy who had forgotten to pick her up).
The second highlight of the film is the birth scene. Andy has heretofore thought of Grace’s doctor husband Pete (Danny Deferrari) as a nerd. But Pete steps up and showcases his powerful bedside manner, movingly calming his wife down by taking her on an imaginary journey, previewing their soon-to-be-born child’s future. Andy stands helplessly in the background, becoming cognizant for the first time of what it means to truly be there for one’s family.
Overall
Keaton’s character, a thoroughly self-involved (but well-meaning), endlessly distracted schmooze-aholic who spews an endless stream of not particularly believable excuses—was just not particularly likeable. Perhaps a bit more so toward the end.He appears to not even have enough emotional investment, or energy, or both, to be able to make all the white lies noteworthy. The result is that you believe nothing that comes out of his mouth, nor do you want to hear it. You get why his wife had had enough; he didn’t even notice she was addicted to pills. The youngest daughter did though. He’s that kind of guy.
I enjoyed basically two quotes: At one point Andy says it’s okay that Grace is reading him the bad-dad riot act: “If life’s not kicking your butt, it’s not doing its job.” The next quote is attributed to the Buddha: “In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”
That last one is the tiny gem that’s embedded in this lightweight family drama that’s rendered even lighter by a treacly soundtrack that often comes dangerously close to 1970s’ elevator music. Kids today don’t have an appreciation of 1960s’ and 70s’ elevator and dentist office Muzak: It could kill half your brain cells dead in the space of 30 seconds.
“Goodrich” may help viewers re-evaluate judging spouses who just can’t take it anymore and step away; the ones who are doing the opposite of Amy Winehouse’s lyric: “They tried to make me go to rehab, but I said, “No, no, no.” Andy’s wife went to rehab. It was the right decision. Andy could make a lot of people go to rehab.
Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis are two of my favorite actors, along with Carmen Ejogo and Andie MacDowell, but they couldn’t help get the gooey “Goodrich” off the ground.
