The first Tribeca Film Festival I ever attended was back in 2016, and since that first year, I’ve become engrossed by the discoveries I’ve made throughout the festival. Through dozens of films over the past couple of years, one that stood out was from 2016. That was Robert Schwartzman’s Dreamland with elements of The Graduate and a modern-day coming-of-age tale with an adult twist.
As the 2023 edition of the festival arrived, it was hard not to be excited for Schwartzman’s next film, The Good Half. With that expectation came a film that went toe-to-toe with an incredibly moving tale of grief, mourning, and guilt over the inability to say goodbye.
The Good Half follows Ren Wheeland, a struggling writer who returns home to Cleveland for his mother’s funeral. While not an only child, Ren’s special bond with his mother, Lily, is evident from the start. On that flight, he meets Zoey, and has a conversation that blossoms into a delightful bond that balances the reality he encounters when he arrives and a rollercoaster of emotions.
Brett Ryland’s screenplay is open to putting the focus on both heart and humor. Rather than attempting to answer how an individual comes to terms with grief, Ryland’s script shines a light on the reality that there’s never an easy way to deal with said grief effectively executed through Renn, Darren, Leigh, and Rick. Each handles the death of Lily in their unique way while evoking the fantastic things she did and the impact she had throughout her life.
On the performance side, the ensemble is one of my favorites at the festival. Nick Jonas does a commendable job leading the film, capturing a version of mourning that effectively captures remorse and sadness. His chemistry with Alexandra Shipp was welcoming, and their interactions offered some of the film’s most touching and comical moments.
Sprinkling in a solid dramatic take by Brittany Snow and the reliable Matt Walsh, the family dynamic is one of its best traits. Speaking of that said dynamic, while only in flashbacks, Elisabeth Shue offers a portrait of a mother who loved and cared in her fashion and one of my favorite performances in recent memory.
While the film mainly works, the needle drops in the film are some of its most head-scratching. Rather than letting the scene breathe, there are head-scratching song choices that do more to take someone out of a scene rather than emotionally invest in it.
The Good Half is one of Tribeca 2023’s most successful outings. Schwartzman’s dramedy doesn’t attempt to answer questions on how to grieve but leaves cinephiles with an understanding that not all suffering looks the same.
