The Good Half

The Good Half is a movie I wanted to like much more than I did. In fact, I usually love these types of films. But something just didn't click for me once the credits rolled. Nick Jonas is not a bad actor, but he's not great either. It doesn't help that the script isn't anything special and the dialogue is sometime laughable or not delivered in a realistic way.

Jonas plays a young man who returns home to attend his mother'a funeral once he realizes she has sadly passed. The premise is fine and I think the movie means well, but the delivery and subject matter just don't add up to anything worth noting. It's an average movie with average...everything.

Renn Wheeland (Nick Jonas) is flying home to Cleveland for his mother (Elisabeth Shue)'s funeral. He connects with fellow plane passenger Zoey Abbot (Alexandra Shipp). His sister Leigh Wheeland (Brittany Snow) had been caring for their mother. Their father (Matt Walsh) has been divorced and she had remarried Rick Barona (David Arquette) who is controlling the funeral.

There are moments of dark emotional explosions and broad black comedy. It can be jarring to flip from one to the other. Nick Jonas is not necessarily a great actor. He's trying. It's tough to center such a wide-ranging role. It is a little uneven, but it kept me interested.

I'm a bit of a sucker for those films that slip under the radar, are produced on a low budget and don't have all the marketing glitz of so-called blockbuster movies. And so it is with the Good Half. Grief is an individual emotion and response that's often hard to articulate and depict on the screen without falling into cliches and mush. However the Good Half gives a worthy and considered account of what grief is like for 1 family and particularly the son, Renn Wheeland, played by Nick Jonas. With the death of his mother, he finds it difficult to express his emotions and plays it out through detachment and, at times aggression. Flashbacks of Renn with his mother during his childhood and later, add to his frustration at her passing. This is an ensemble cast and Renn's story is aided by well-balanced and convincing performances by his sister, Leigh, played by Brittany Snow and his mother Lily, played by Elisabeth Shue. Other cast members add to the well-crafted story. While the story moves along at a slow pace (as others have mentioned in reviews here) this only adds depth to the grief in the immediate aftermath of Lily's death. So be patient and watch through to the end and you'll be rewarded with a superb story of one family's response to the passing of one of their key members. Highly recommended.

Beautiful movie with beautiful acting. Nick surely made it all the way. It reminded me of my time when I lost my mother and i think this movie must be watched by every soul on earth to understand the feeling loosing a mother. I dont understand that why low rating, are people have become numb? Beautiful acting beautiful plot and beautiful feelings all the way. Whats wrong? This movie is filled with feelings and emotions and loosing a loved one. Should deserve an award or something. Its a movie for the people who have feelings and are alive and understand what is means to lose someone. I wish more of such movies comes in and we must care about this life which is only for once. Cheers to the team who made this movie and the idea behind this. Superb acting by all and must remember our end as well. Life is short and worth to make memories in a good way.

This is a small, but touching movie about a death that does not overstay its welcome. Each person in the family grieves in their own way and even the sleazy stepfather had his moments.

I'm on the fence with Nick Jonas - I don't get his appeal, but he does a good enough job with this. However, isn't he supposed to be a singer? His karaoke was awful, but I don't know his music, so eh.

Elizabeth Shue is wonderful, as always, in the supporting role of his Mother, and so is Brittany Snow, as his sister.

A slow watch, but I can't say I was bored at all. In fact, it brought back some sad memories for me too.