‘A Good Person, A Terrible Movie

Florence Pugh (left) and Morgan Freeman in The Good Man.

Touching on themes of distracted driving, drug abuse and teenage pregnancy, "The Good Man" sounds like a two-hour PSA. In this uneven melodrama from writer/director Zach Braff, no member of the talented cast can figure out the twisted plot. It seems like a miracle from God that some actors manage to breathe air from time to time. But in most movies, God is not in the details.

This tri-genre tearjerker follows the trial of Alison (Florence Pugh) as she goes shopping for a wedding dress when she is involved in a car accident that kills two people, including her fiancé's sister. Molly: Accidents have other surprising consequences. Molly's father (Morgan Freeman) has to take care of her grandson Ryan (Celeste O'Connor). Will we be able to make ends meet for this broken family?

Complex and complex relationships in films should reflect real life. But Braff puts his characters in a lot of dead ends, beautifully choreographed by Freeman, whose opening voiceover points out that unlike the model train he built in his basement, we can't control the rails in our lives.

As the story progresses, you may wish for less distraction in this train wreck. Good Man failed both in writing and direction.

Braff, whose most recent film was the 2017 comedy Departing Beautifully, which also starred Freeman, loses himself in his plot, often letting his actors fly under the radar. As Alison becomes addicted to OxyContin and Ryan transforms from model student to troubled teenager, their emotions run wild as the filmmakers push Pugh and O'Connor for heightened, Oscar-winning performances.

There are complete scenes that need to be cut. (Here's a hint: What about the first half hour?) As soon as Alison meets her, she comes out belting a dark version of the Velvet Underground ballad "After Hours." (Appropriate, of course, given the character's downfall.) There's also an absolutely incredible scene where Alison dives into a beer bar to meet up with some old classmates to get revenge on a former celebrity. A girl who used to ignore them but now wants drugs.

Eventually, things calm down, thanks in no small part to Freeman smoothing over the youthful excesses of his age mates. To his credit, Pugh manages to show some restraint. It is in these quiet moments that his genius shines.

However, Freeman is the only actor here who doesn't overdo it. You can almost imagine him politely declining when Braff asks him to cross the line of decency;

However, just like that fatal car accident, The Good Man spirals out of control. He means well most of the time, and underneath all this scoop lies a valuable message of forgiveness and redemption, with one caveat: It's easier said than done.

It almost made me think of something. Am I a bad person if I don't like you?

Regional theaters and . Contains drug abuse, profanity, violence and sexual references. 129 minutes.