"The Good Half" is a bittersweet, compassionate slice-of-life gem about grief

The Good Half (2024)

At first, "The Good Half" sounds like every Sundance indie that proves one can never go home again. Director Robert Schwartzman and writer Brett Ryland, both having experienced deaths of a parent to cancer as their protagonist, give their well-assembled cast so many honest and compassionate notes that any familiarity felt with the material is forgotten. This is a bittersweet, affecting gem.

Putting aside the baggage of being a handsome triple-platinum recording artist, Nick Jonas leads the way as Renn, a 28-year-old Los Angeles writer who has just lost his mother, Lily (Elisabeth Shue), to cancer. He’s also not very happy in his current job, but Renn is back home in Cleveland to be with his family even under not-so-happy circumstances. His divorced dad (Matt Walsh) just wants to connect with his son, and Renn’s older sister Leigh (Brittany Snow) has a schedule for them to follow, like picking out the right casket. Renn hasn’t quite found his own way to say goodbye to his mother, but that’s what his time home is for, right?

On his flight home, Renn meets a therapist named Zoey (Alexandra Shipp), and while she’s in town for a work conference, they hang out. The Renn-Zoey relationship might feel a little wedged-in, but both Jonas and the always-radiant Shipp bring an immediate spark to their meet-cute on the airplane and every meet-up thereafter (Zoey’s love for Michael Bay films and ‘90s action films in general is cute).

"The Good Half" opens with a flashback of a young Renn (Mason Cufari) being mad at his mother for losing him in the store. She pinky promises him that she’ll never leave him, and then this scene poignantly cuts to present-day Renn getting the news of his mom passing away. Though Lily is gone, Elisabeth Shue makes such a warm, vivacious impression that she hovers over the proceedings, and editor Chris Donlon keeps her alive when the past is expertly timed to collide with the present. Read the full review at GuyAtTheMovies.com

Grade: B

Utopia Distribution released "The Good Half" (100 min.) in select theaters on August 16, 2024.