Despertar del duelo

Have you ever experienced the loss of your partner in your life? Have you tried to find fault with others in order to better cope with the situation? How much did your friends help you get through this stage in your life, and how important were they to you during this time? Is there a time frame for how long a person should grieve a loss? These are the questions you will ask yourself while watching Good Grief. Dan Levy's directorial debut, in which he has put a significant part of his story, is an unorthodox romantic drama that touches closely on the themes of love, grief, forgiveness, reconciliation and new beginnings.

A really perfectly balanced film. It would have been so easy to play it safe and make a typical 'bubblegum' movie, with guaranteed well rehearsed tropes and clichés. So I admire Dan Levy's restraint, and that he took a risk with a more subtle approach. It isn't, as I imagined, a romcom, rather, a gentle exploration of grief, friendship and complicated legacies. I found it quite emotive without sentimentality. I loathe feeling manipulated by film makers- when the music, sappiness and script so deliberately and blatantly are working their formulaic chops off in a contrived effort to control every reaction a viewer is having.

While I wasn't 'blown away' by this film, I was impressed and engaged. I suspect/hope that Levy will continue to create as well as act, and be a well regarded director/writer in his own right.

Finally, the performances were great and the chemistry between the 3 friends felt authentic. The script could have been sharper and, as much as I usually love Luke Evans, I thought his performance in this perhaps the weakest of all the cast. But these a minor criticisms. I understand it if isn't what some people drawn to the film were hoping/expecting , and can understand some disappointment. But, for me, it was just right in tone and I think Dan Levy will go from strength to strength.

Definitely fits into the underwhelming category based on the well known writing capability of Dan Levy. I liked the concept, but don't think it delivered. The opening segment was anticlimactic and didn't illicit the expected empathy, it was almost like "okay... now what". And the now what, was three self obsessed people pretending to be friends and having mostly meaningless conversations. The characters were all for the most part unlikeable, and therefore it didn't matter to me if they got "happy endings" and dealt with their hangups. Overall, okay, no depth to characters or story. I feel no need to ever watch again.

Dan Levy steps behind the cameras for a solemn yet ardent look at grief and unexpected loss. Levy goes slightly against his "Schitt's Creek"-persona to try and convey an emotional and sincere character study and despite a rocky start the film finds its groove and gets quite moving particularly in the third act. Solid directing, lush cinematography showing a glorious Paris at Christmas. Still, quite a bit of the premise and writing is pretentious, unrelatable and unrealistic - can we ever get a film like this where the characters have regular jobs? Levy is sturdy in the lead, Himesh Patel is quite good but appears stuck in a different film whilst Ruth Negga is grating to say the least - her character is already in contention for one of the worst in 2024. She comes close to ruining the movie with her vain, selfish and unlikable character. Solid debut!

For those who cherish Daniel Levy from the humor and escapism Schitt's Creek provides, this is not that... adjust your lens and your expectations. This is a beautiful film that portrays real life in a myriad of ways and the actors do a fantastic job sharing that story. This felt very ready for the stage yet as a film it never gave me the release I tend to crave. No high highs, no drastic lows... just a restrained and even keeled world in which the characters still remain in tact. Not exactly what I hoped it might be, but still has its place and I'm happy it exists, especially to offer greater representation of many underrepresented communities.