Good Grief Movie Review: The locations in London and Paris are lovely; the likeable cast looks chic in their puffy coats, baggy slacks, and tattered sweaters; and the innumerable heartfelt close-ups are meant to make us cry. However, Netflix's Good Grief is all surreal despite the protagonists' deep soul-digging. If it is not a Christmas movie, at least one that is close to it is after the first scene. Perfectly watchable but a little dull, Levy plays Marc, a London artist who has given up his own creative work to work as an illustrator on his beloved husband Oliver's (Luke Evans) best-selling fantasy novels about telepathic truth-seeker Victoria Valentine. The books have been adapted into a major film franchise. Daniel Levy, who began his career directing Schitt's Creek episodes, is a versatile filmmaker whose first movie is a gorgeous drama about love, sorrow, and the healing power of friendship. However, it's less impactful and more sincere.
Oliver is in charge of their annual holiday party singalong, leading the guests in a beautiful choral rendition of William Bell's beloved seasonal song, "Everyday Will Be Like a Holiday," before he departs for a book signing in Paris. It's the most poignant scene in the film. However, no sooner had Marc said farewell than flashing lights from the street outside indicated that Oliver's cab was involved in an accident.
Shattering loss, which occurs not long after Marc’s mother’s death, makes him cling tight to his chosen family—drunken, boho-chic Sophie (Ruth Negga) and unhappily single ex-boyfriend Thomas (Himesh Patel). Tonal ambiguity already appears at Oliver's funeral when Kaitlyn Dever, who plays Victoria in the movies, speaks throughout the service while wearing outrageously outrageous clothing and making it all about herself. It's a startlingly inappropriate bit of overt satire. Oliver's father (David Bradley) restores order in a poignant speech delivered with heartbreaking sensitivity.
After learning that Oliver had a pied-à-terre in Paris from the couple's accountant (Celia Imrie), Marc is finally able to view the Christmas card his husband gave him before he left that fatal night. The revelations he receives seem to devalue the year he has spent grieving and drive him to reconsider his entire marriage. He invites Sophie and Thomas to spend a weekend with him while keeping the details to himself. Films ranging from forgettable studio productions like Sydney Pollack's Random Hearts to Euro-auteur dramas like Kieslowski's Three Colors: Blue have explored similar scenarios in which bereaved spouses find themselves confronted by their late partners' secrets.
But Levy's curiosity over that startling finding is limited. The emphasis eventually shifts to the emotional stagnation in all three of their lives until outside forces force Marc to fill in the blanks for Sophie and Thomas. Riding the enormous Ferris wheel at Place de la Concorde, with the city lights of Paris as a backdrop, causes their mutual discontent to explode.
Similar to an after-hours Orangerie visit with a romantic Frenchman (Arnaud Valois) to see Monet's "Water Lilies," the scene's posh setting is indicative of a film that dresses up a well-known relationship drama with flimsy excuses and rarely deviates from pop-psych talking points about how people deal with grief or how important trusted friends can be in helping people get through difficult times.
Rob Simonsen's soundtrack, with its shimmering melancholy, frequently hints at a depth of feeling that is absent from the writing and, consequently, from the performances. The narrative is compassionate but never terribly probing, and the movie’s closeness is more contrived than lived-in. It's just too obvious to be anything other than cheesy for Sophie to turn on Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" and toast "to the fucking pain!"I'm in the capital of France, purportedly as a token of appreciation for their kind assistance.
Like Dever’s ill-fitting cameo, Emma Corrin pops up for a thankless minute as a performance artist thrashing about in a web of knitting in a London warehouse exhibition space. However, the scene offers nothing beyond showcasing the three pals in their artistic environment.
Perhaps this suggests that loss can serve as a catalyst for introspection and artistic regeneration. Without a doubt, there's no reason to doubt Levy's honesty. However, he hasn't been able to transform all of the emo discourse into a gripping drama, so the result is a movie that is ok for streaming (it opens on Netflix on January 5 after a week in select cinemas) but not unique enough to captivate you or make you care about the characters.
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