A Good Person
United Artists Releasing | Release Date: March 24, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
15
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiMar 22, 2023
It’s a tender drama and one that focuses on its characters in interesting, thoughtful ways. Read full review
58
Original-CinJim SlotekMar 24, 2023
Two hours witnessing the agony of a guilt-ridden pill addict doesn’t exactly have “good times” written all over it. To make it an experience worth enduring requires something more. Read full review
51
Paste MagazineJesse HassengerMar 22, 2023
A Good Person winds up with the ambition of a novel, but little of the richness. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 30, 2023
Pugh has never been better than she is here, utterly immersed in the character’s accent and world-shrinking despair. And Freeman lends some flint and fire and sparkle to this simple redemption tale that touches, amuses, overreaches and overstays its welcome. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 23, 2023
Despite the fine performances, A Good Person starts off on the wrong foot and never finds a solid stride. Read full review
50
The New York TimesBrandon YuMar 23, 2023
Braff is going for something broader than indie naturalism, so perhaps the film calls for less subtle brushstrokes. But the result is something that rings with far less thoughtfulness than he’s clearly capable of (particularly in light of the opioid crisis that the film mentions), despite Pugh’s remarkable attempts to ground the story. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeOdie HendersonMar 22, 2023
If nothing else, Braff gets good to great performances out of his cast. The standouts are Pugh and Freeman: She’s a violent slash of petulance, while he remains a master of barely concealed wrath. Both actors are willing to plumb the depths of desperation, but their hard work is wasted in a film unworthy of their talents. A Good Person is a mediocre movie. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesMar 22, 2023
Scaffolding his story on an illogical foundation, Braff (Garden State, Wish I Was Here) continues to be an aggravatingly unsubtle filmmaker, over-relying on totems of profundity (a train set, a tattoo) and showboating with the camera in ways that distract rather than enhance the drama. Read full review
50
SlashfilmVanessa ArmstrongMar 22, 2023
The intentions of the movie are clear and admirable, but the execution of A Good Person, in the end, misses the mark. Read full review
42
The PlaylistCharles BarfieldMar 22, 2023
Great actors and inspired performances can only help a film so much. And in the case of “A Good Person,” Zach Braff presents another competent movie that checks all of the dramatic boxes but does so in a way that feels like ChatGPT has already invaded Hollywood. Read full review
42
IndieWireJude DryMar 22, 2023
Though Pugh valiantly muscles through the melancholy beats of Braff’s melodrama, there are too many other characters and plot threads to allow her to do much besides heave the story forward. Read full review
40
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyMar 24, 2023
A Good Person has a tendency to approach moral complexity as a checklist. Read full review
40
Rolling StoneDavid FearMar 24, 2023
You don’t blame Braff for wanting to craft a movie around [Pugh]. But you can blame him for the movie itself that surrounds that performance, as well as a seriously ludicrous climax — one of several — set in a Williamsburg house party and a coda so self-aggrandizingly lachrymose that you’ll have to resist the urge to scream. Read full review
40
NMESam WarnerMar 23, 2023
A Good Person unfortunately won’t stand as Braff’s finest achievement, and while Pugh and Freeman each give strong turns with what they’re given, even they can’t save this patchy effort from misfiring. Read full review
40
Screen DailyTim GriersonMar 22, 2023
Pugh and Freeman are superb at embodying their characters’ emotional wounds, but Braff’s melodramatic approach quickly becomes oppressive, clumsily orchestrating wild highs and lows with such inelegance that his protagonists start to resemble helpless pawns he is pushing around the narrative chessboard. Read full review
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