Good One
A film like “Good One” depends more on direction and performances than many blockbusters do, I think, and it’s because the rhythms of the film, how much we follow the characters, and how the story unfolds on-screen. This is, essentially, a stage play with three characters- two best friends, and one of their daughters, who sees these men as flawed people who sometimes don’t understand how to behave in certain situations. The performances are strong enough to justify our interest, though.
Writer-director India Donaldson’s debut feature follows a young woman (Sam, played by Lily Collias) who is going on a weekend camping trip with her father (Chris, played by James Le Gros) and his friend (Matt, played by Danny McCarthy). Matt’s son, Dylan (Julian Grady), was originally supposed to join them, but he refuses to go, resentful of Matt’s recent divorce from Dylan’s mother. Sam is unsure if she wants to be alone with Chris and Matt on this trip, so she offers to talk to Dylan, but Matt says no. There are tensions throughout the trip that begin to boil over further once they get on the trail. Missing sleeping bags, fellow travelers camping nearby, and Sam missing her girlfriend, all the more as Matt and Chris’s bond feels unshakable, and Sam feels like an outsider.
The title of the film refers to a line Matt says to Chris about Sam, who shows wisdom beyond her years during their final campfire together. The film centers a lot on relationships between fathers and children, and how their children feel when a degree of trust is violated by their fathers. Dylan’s absence from the trip is his way of communicating that; when Sam confides something to her father about Matt, his response allows her to communicate her own sense of trust violated through action. I don’t know that I would consider either Chris or Matt bad men on their own, but together- with drinking as a shared activity- they can be toxic to a young woman, and Sam’s pain at the end is palpable. This is a beautifully-constructed story that just escalates the emotional landscape a little bit at a time. Do the men learn anything by the end? I don’t know, but Sam- through a powerful performance by Collias- definitely understands more about herself, and what she won’t tolerate, even if it’s from someone who claims to love her. She’s in a stronger emotional place. This feels like a turning point for her; we just hope it is for all of them.
