50
Metascore
32 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 70The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckPugh delivers a superb starring performance that serves to accentuate her growing artistic stature and co-star Morgan Freeman turns in his best work in years after appearing in far too many sub-par vehicles. Their efforts lift A Good Person, which otherwise too often feels familiar in its themes and self-conscious in its melodramatic plot contrivances.
- 67ColliderRoss BonaimeColliderRoss BonaimeLed by two solid performances by Pugh and Freeman, A Good Person shows growth from Braff as both a writer and director, as he attempts to push himself into a more mature story that we’re used to from him.
- 60Screen RantMae AbdulbakiScreen RantMae AbdulbakiIt’s a tender drama and one that focuses on its characters in interesting, thoughtful ways.
- 38Slant MagazineDerek SmithSlant MagazineDerek SmithThe more that Zach Braff’s script tries to thematically tie its disparate threads together, the more that A Good Person comes to resemble the very same type of neat and tidy self-contained version of reality that it ironically skewers in its prologue.
- 38The Seattle TimesChase HutchinsonThe Seattle TimesChase HutchinsonIt is as if Pugh is having to push her way through narrative waters that threaten to wash away her performance. No matter how she continues to rise to the challenge, the film’s cascading of contrivances drown her out.
- 25The A.V. ClubMurtada ElfadlThe A.V. ClubMurtada ElfadlAsking the question “what makes a good person” might have been an intriguing idea. However, in trying to come up with an answer, A Good Person ends up presenting an overwrought narrative that’s full of cliches that do not resonate.
- 20The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawBraff puts us through a gruelling “relapse” montage as Allison hits the pills again after an illusory breakthrough and then a “recovery” montage as she gets it together. And the film’s single valuable lesson – the one about not looking at your phone while driving – is all but forgotten.