Good Grief(Netflix)
Starring Dan Levy , Ruth Negga, Himesh Patel, Celia Imrie, David Bradley, Arnaud Valois, and Luke Evans
Directed by Dan Levy
Rating: ***
At first, Good Grief is about trying to come to terms with the loss of the love of your life, with the help of close friends. But then the film and its protagonist Marc(Daniel Levy) have a change of heart.
Good Grief decides to go the heartbreak way , creating a kind of beguiling pyramid of grief and comedy seldom, if ever, seen before. This is a smart sassy and supremely sexy film. It gets there without storming into screenplay with extraneous props.
For one, there is no nudity or sexual intimacy except kissing, in the proceedings. This in itself is unique for a film about same-sex relationships. We can safely say Good Grief is the Disney version of a gay comedy. It is good to see the same-sex couple being treated in a gender-free manner.
In fact early in the film we see the deceased gay man Oliver’s father giving a moving speech at his son’s funeral about never stopping his son from chasing his dreams. Having gotten that out of the way, the savvy screenplay(by Levy) moves towards a kind of liberating libretto on infidelity and commitment.
The basic dramatic conflict here is between bereavement and betrayal. What to do when you get to know that the soul mate whom you were grieving for has been cheating on you? This is not an easy theme to put on film, especially if the tone chosen is lingering its lightness.
Crucial to the efficacy of this comedy about grieving is the central performance and Daniel Levi(who has produced the film) is just about adequate playing a very complex character which careens from comedy to catastrophe and finally finds irs bearings.
Levi appears even more average than he would normally have when pitched against his two-costars Himesh Patel and Ruth Negga who are nothing short of spectacular as Marc’s best friends.It is so wonderful to see Patel(who was rather underwhelming in Danny Boyle’s Yesterday)come into his own as Thomas, Marc’s one-time lover and now best friend.The film’s best line comes from Patel who while describing Negga’s character says, “Her brain is like those small pretty purses that women carry which contains nothing.”
In fact the conversations are flush with quotable quotes.You may not find the mode of grieving to be your scene. But Good Grief never stops giving you food for thought even at its lowest ebb.
