After making us laugh with Schitt’s Creek, Dan Levy tries for the cry with Good Grief, now streaming on Netflix.
In his directorial debut, Dan Levy transitions from deadpan humor a la Schitt’s Creek to a more melancholic tone in Good Grief, a drama that’s more about sentimental moments than goofy antics. During a lively Christmas Eve party, Marc (Dan Levy) lovingly kisses his husband, Oliver (Luke Evans), goodbye as he leaves for a business trip. As a parting gift, Oliver gives Marc a Christmas card, but before he can read it, Oliver tragically dies in a car crash.
Fast forward one year to Marc grieving in an empty apartment with only his friends — the free-spirited Sophie (Ruth Negga) and the more grounded Thomas (Himesh Patel) — to keep him from drowning further in his sorrows. But after finally reading Oliver’s Christmas card, Marc discovers that his husband had been having an affair in a French pied-à-terre he never knew existed. Marc invites his friends under the guise of enjoying a weekend in Paris while he secretly seeks answers for his husband’s double life.
“We all deserve some joy.”
It’s no secret that Levy plays the romantic lead well and could make anyone swoon, but not even his trademark smirks are enough to make Good Grief all that compelling. It’s essentially a higher-budget Hallmark film with a script too lackluster for such well-worn ideas and themes.
The dynamic between Marc and his friends is the film’s highlight and lets Levy examine just how important friendship is, especially when grieving. From the beginning, Sophie and Thomas are there for Marc, dragging him out to pilates and lousy performance art shows. Levy gives the dynamic duo their own issues with love — Sophie being unable to commit to a seemingly perfect guy and Thomas unable to find love of his own — but their storylines lack dimension, purpose, and flavor.
“You must miss him.”
Theo (Arnaud Valois) is another addition that keeps the film from truly finding its pulse. A manic pixie dream boy with a capital M, Theo appears to be a new romantic interest for Marc and sneaks him into an art museum after hours to influence him to paint again. It’s a romantic moment, sure, but it doesn’t blossom into much, leaving Theo simply as an afterthought like most other characters in this.
Good Grief asks the question: How do you continue grieving a loved one after they hurt you? Levy only provides a generic answer for whatever reason, but at least he had the good sense to cast a stellar ensemble to carry this project through.
Good Grief is now available to stream on Netflix. Watch the trailer here.
Images courtesy of Netflix. Read more articles by Yasmin Kleinbart here.
REVIEW RATING
-
Good Grief - 6/10
6/10
No Comments