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Good

5.4

4,844

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Original title

Good

Year

2008

Running time

91 min.

Country

United Kingdom

Director

Vicente Amorim

Screenwriter

John Wrathall. Play: C.P. Taylor

Cast

Music

Simon Lacey

Cinematography

Andrew Dunn

Producer

Good Films, Miromar Entertainment

Genre

Drama | Nazism. Holocaust. 1930s

Synopsis

John Halder (Mortensen) is a 'good' and decent individual with family problems: a neurotic wife, two demanding children and a mother suffering from senile dementia. A literary professor, Halder explores his personal circumstances in a novel advocating compassionate euthanasia. When the book is unexpectedly enlisted by powerful political figures in support of government propaganda, Halder finds his career rising in an optimistic current of nationalism and prosperity. Seemingly inconsequential decisions lead to choices, which lead to more choices... with eventually devastating effect.

Critics' reviews

"Anemic screen adaptation of C. P. Taylor’s play (...) Viggo Mortensen, miscast and ineptly directed by Vicente Amorim"

Stephen Holden: The New York Times
"Absorbing drama about a good man who is blind to the horrors of Germany's Nazi regime"

Ray Bennett: The Hollywood Reporter
"Considering its theme and setting, there's something very wrong with a 'Good' that seems merely competent"

Dennis Harvey: Variety
"The filmmakers reach for metaphor and allegory, but it comes at the expense of an emotional connection"

Betsy Sharkey: Los Angeles Times
"Good has a stagy fustiness, but it's worth seeing for Mortensen, who makes this study of a 'good German' look creepily contemporary. He shows us the horror  of ignorance."

Owen Gleiberman: Entertainment Weekly
"Good lacks character development and dimension. (...) Though the film opens with an intriguing burnished look, it bogs down about halfway through with talkiness and uneven pacing. (...) Rating: ★★ (out of four)."

Claudia Puig: USA Today
"The banality of evil has met its match in the banality of 'Good', a Holocaust parable that barely registers a pulse."

Kyle Smith: New York Post

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User history

Good

2008

Vicente Amorim

5.4

(4,844)