Art, business and family. For art dealer Andy Goodrich (Michael Keaton) these are the things he is focused on the most, in that exact order, with a power gap between business and family! As director of a boutique art gallery, he has spent decades invested in his work at the expense of his home life.
One night, Andy is awoken from his exhausted slumber by a phone call from his young wife, Naomi (Laura Benanti). Abruptly she has checked herself into a 90 day rehab program to treat an addiction to pills he didn’t even know about. As shocking a revelation as this may be on its own, Andy is now tasked with being something he’s never been before: an attentive father. His nine year old twins Billie (Vivien Lyra Blair) and Mose (Jacob Kopera) might be wise beyond their years, but for the next three months, Andy will still need help raising them.
Enter Grace (Mila Kunis) Andy‘s adult daughter from his previous failed marriage. Herself heavily pregnant with Andy‘s first grandchild, she struggles to reconcile with this father who has always provided but was never truly there for anyone. As Andy‘s gallery faces financial ruin and he stares down the barrel of another failed marriage, he’s already struggling to keep his head above water. But never backing down from a challenge, Andy aims to evolve into the type of conscientious father his young children deserve and Grace always wanted.
The progeny of filmmakers Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers, writer and director Hallie Meyers-Shyer has been around diverse family films her entire life. With her parents behind classics such as Irreconcilable Differences (1984), The Parent Trap (1998), and Father of the Bride (1991). Hallie Meyers-Shyer developed a fascination with the idea of modern families, those which differ from the average, but reflect the complex dynamics we see in the world today.
While Goodrich is also inspired by more serious films like Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Terms Of Endearment (1983), I couldn’t help but think of the 1983 comedy, Mr. Mom. This was in fact Michael Keaton‘s first lead role and it shares a similar role reversal plot of a father tasked with caring for his young children. But Goodrich takes a look at stronger themes and even leaves one to debate the morality of its characters, whether it means to or not.
For its protagonist, we see Andy grow over the course of the film, but it is not a day and night change. Andy doesn’t need a “coming to the light” revelation as we see that he is a well-meaning and generally decent human being already. He just hasn’t been there for his loved ones 100% and his relationships with those closest to him have suffered as a result. What he needs is to shift focus and to learn to relax a little, to pay attention to his home life as much as he does his professional one.
Michael Keaton is well suited to this role of a kind but somewhat rough around the edges curmudgeon. He brings his natural comedic charm to the part and we immediately feel for him in his unexpected situation. Perhaps even a little too much, as his likeable and friendly nature is at odds with just how poorly he is treated by some of those around him. There are plenty of pleasant people lending a hand, but also some even more unreliable than we’re assured Andy is.
Chief among them is his wife Naomi whose complete absence from the film (not introduced in person until 90 minutes in) leaves us cold to her plight. She’s unhappy in her relationship and she has grown apart from Andy, but short of his apparent inattentiveness, we never see why this is. He clearly loves his wife and children but when you have your name on the side of a struggling business, with several employees and artists depending on you, it’s understandable that you might miss a few birthday parties.
To be fair, the Goodrich never shies away from this contentious view, with the script through Andy‘s observations that it is his finances which has allowed for Naomi‘s three month vacation from the world. It is just that Andy isn’t so much requiring of change himself, instead needing an understanding and acceptance of the crumbling world around him.
The much more potentially interesting story is the troubled relationship between Andy and Grace. His wives may have chosen to leave him and his twins are now his priority, but Grace was never given that choice or that attention as a child. Now, she is the only person that he can lean on at a point in her pregnancy where she realistically should be relying on him. Sadly, the film feels like it neglects Grace almost as much as her father did. With Kunis’ character ironically pushed to the side until whenever the plot needs a scene of Grace to be forgotten about by Andy once more.
Goodrich is not without its moments of sentimentality and Keaton and Kunis play off each other in touching ways. As a feelgood story showing that you are never too old to grow as a person, Goodrich still hits all the right marks and left me with a smile on my face. Although, a few more scenes between Andy and Grace and a few less clichés would have made for a much more original and earnest movie experience.
Goodrich is in cinemas from November 21.