Good One
Before leaving for college, 17 year-old Sam (Lily Collias, "Palm Trees and Power Lines") goes on a hiking trip to the Catskills with her 50ish dad Chris (James Le Gros, "Certain Women") and his best friend Matt (Danny McCarthy, "Stronger"), whose son Dylan (Julian Grady) abandons the outing during an argument at their front door as the other two wait to pick them up. The remarried and divorced dads continue a relationship of affectionate, exasperated, humorous bickering as Sam acts as a wise-beyond-her-years mediator, the “Good One.”
Laura's Review: B
Writer/director India Donaldson's feature debut is an uncommonly insightful accumulation of small moments that build to a reckoning when the young woman maintaining the balance between two middle-aged men is failed by both. This may be the most profound hike since Kelly Reichardt’s “Old Joy.”
Donaldson kicks off contrasting two households, Chris married to the much younger Casey (Diana Irvine) who tends to a small child while her stepdaughter Sam enjoys time with her girlfriend Jessie (Sumaya Bouhbal), a blended family that if not blissful, appears convivial. Matt’s household is only glimpsed from the exterior, but we learn everything we need to know at its front door, its stress palpable.
Sam, who’s resented giving up her front seat to Matt (and will recover it later by offering, even demanding, to drive), pipes up when front seat conversation veers off course, reminding the old friends she’s a mere foot away from them. When dad gets annoyed by a female client making demands on the next week’s construction job, Sam steps in to text back, softening Chris’s initial misogynistic reply. At a diner stop, Sam sits across from her dad as Matt paces outside, seen in the window between them arguing with his ex-wife over their son, the staging of the shot foreshadowing relationship shifts.
Fussbudget Chris’s tendency toward detail versus Matt’s childlike irresponsibility is illustrated when they unpack the car, Matt’s pack so overloaded with unessential items he’ll never be able to carry it all. Matt amuses as they walk, veering into such irrelevant topics as favorite colors as he lags behind and when they choose their site, not only will they learn Matt left his sleeping bag back at the car, but Sam needs to help him set up his tent. She’s alarmed when the three younger guys she spied in a swimming hole earlier decide their spot is so perfect, they begin to set up camp right next to them, but Chris reassures ‘it’s all right.’ Matt swoons over Sam’s doctored ramen, wishing Dylan was there so he could taste it.
But that’s not all he eats that night, revealing he devoured some of the snack food Chris dismissed as unnecessary baggage in his tent. Chris erupts, reminding Matt of the dangers of bears and telling him he’s furious his friend so blithely endangered his daughter, something that never occurred to him about the unknown young males who camped beside them, a blindness towards his own sex which will have greater consequences later.
Donaldson’s film touches upon the relationships between men and women in various familial, sexual and non-sexual ways, but although Sam is clearly her protagonist and the one who chooses forgiveness after betrayal, the filmmaker doesn’t stack the deck against the two men either. Both are shown as fallible, yes, but also struggling with their own issues, particularly Matt. On their last night outdoors, Chris tries to lighten the mood with an awful ghost story, one which is countered by Matt with what is clearly his own downward spiral, a once promising acting career starring in a cop show having given way to the occasional commercial and a financial situation not equally shared with his now ex-wife. Donaldson also finds a beautifully non-verbal way to close out her film, circling back to the beginning of the journey and incorporating man made totems.
The three stars are all exceptional, young Collias expressing the wisdom beyond her years which Matt’s character continually notes. McCarthy walks a delicate balance with precision while Le Gros’s practical and proud dad exhibits an unrecognized blind spot. Wilson Cameron's digital lensing favors medium shots and close-ups with cutaways to such things as orange newts and Sam’s hands filtering the water of a clear stream. Celia Hollander’s bell-like score is a bit too precious, but evolves into something darker as the stakes of the movie rise.
“Good One” is a small film of everyday minutia building toward a momentous crossroad.
Robin's Review: B
Sam (Lily Collias), her dad Chris (James Le Gros) and his best friend Matt (Danny McCarthy) head off to the Catskills for a hiking and camping trip. The 17-year old cheerfully puts up with her dad and his BFF and their good natured rivalry – until something happens in “Good One.”
Tyro feature film director-writer India Donaldson brings us a three hander with something special – newcomer Lily Collias, who makes a striking debut, star-making performance. Sam is comfortable going on a hiking trip with her dad and Matt. Things start out on a rocky note, though, when they pick up Matt. He is in the midst of a fight with his teen son, who refuses to go on the trip. Things get down to “normal” as they drive to the trail and prepare for their trek into the wilderness. Then, Matt declares he forgot his sleeping bag, “but I’ll be OK.” He will not.
As time passes, they get into the hiking and camping routine and, one night, when Chris turns in, Matt makes an inappropriate comment to Sam. Suddenly, the whole journey turns from pleasant to tainted.
Director Donaldson does not have a lot of fat on this tightly written and acted story. At a little over 90 minutes, there is no waste in the narrative and it all feels natural and real. The characters are believable with Sam and Chris as a genuine daughter and dad – their father-daughter banter is organic, even if Chris is a bit clueless. Matt has a back story that is complicated by his careless comment to Sam.
With the film’s POV from Sam’s perspective, we see the intelligence and confidence of the young woman as she deals with her middle aged companions – not always to her satisfaction. Sam’s is a good character study about a smart and competent teen. I hope to see more of Collias, she is a talent to watch. Her co-stars were not slouches either.
I could call “Good One” a coming of age film, but Sam is fully formed and has her own mind, so she has already come of age at 17. She is a really good character played really well by Collias.
Metrograph releases "Good One" in select theaters on 8/9/24, opening wider on 8/16/24.
