By: Addison Wylie

Preceding an amicable exchange between ex-lovers, Andy Goodrich (Michael Keaton) is asked by his former wife Ann (Andie MacDowell) how he’s doing. “I’m okay,” Andy answers. “You’re always okay,” Ann teases. She isn’t wrong. Throughout Goodrich, the audience observes Andy doing okay. He occasionally has an awkward conversation that sometimes references his past as a flawed father but, otherwise, he’s a well-respected and levelheaded dude.

Goodrich has been fashioned to match the same low-key frequency as Andy. The dramedy aspires to be an easy watch for older audiences who would trade complexities for calmness. While the film operates at the murmur it aims for, Goodrich forgets to challenge itself and lands with bad form.

By focusing primarily on Andy’s self-rehabilitation, writer/director Hallie Meyers-Shyer (Home Again) doesn’t give her lead character a low level to build up from. His starting position is in a stage of bewilderment, as his current wife Naomi (Laura Benanti) wants a divorce after she checks herself into a rehab program to treat her private addiction to pills. Meyers-Shyer, strangely enough, ignores Naomi in favour of Andy’s sadsack attitude, which then leads to an endless stream of boring scenes where Andy tries to connect more with the people around him; notably his oldest daughter Grace (Mila Kunis). While this may seem like an opportunity for a character arc, since Andy is already seen as an “okay” guy, he only endures minor growth. Goodrich also waffles in tone as simple dialogue-driven scenes are interrupted with exhausting whip pan camerawork and a distracting angelic score that narrowly becomes self-parody.

Ever since his Oscar-nominated turn in 2014’s Birdman, Michael Keaton is still receiving a humble renaissance that naturally draws people in. That said, it seems as though Goodrich is trying to coast off of Keaton’s popular and likeable charisma. Try as he may to bring interest to Hallie Meyers-Shyer’s movie, his efforts are only as good as the mediocre material he’s trapped within.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie