Film Reviews

Good

• Rating:
• Director: Vicente Amorim.
• Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Jason Isaacs, Jodie Whittaker, Mark Strong.
• Details: UK/Germany / 96mins (15A).

Based on the play by C.P Taylor, Good sees Mortensen play the decent John Halder, a Nazi era university lecturer with aspirations of being a novelist. His only novel, published years before Hitler came to power, attracts the attention of censorship officer Bouhler (Strong) who is interested in Halder’s take on morality (his book, a work of fiction, poses the question of euthanasia) and asks Halder to pen a paper depict his thoughts on the subject. Halder, a staunch anti national socialist, quickly rises through the ranks of the Nazi party as a ‘consultant in humanity’ but his new found success puts his ethics to the test when the persecution of the Jews – and in particular his best friend Maurice (Isaacs) – becomes party policy... How can a good man commit evil is the theme for Good but this treatise on morals and ethics is a plodding, heavy-handed affair. Director Amorim looks uncomfortable with the subject matter and prefers instead to turn Good into a quasi thriller, with Halder helping Maurice escape Germany taking up some screen time. When Amorim does tackle the heavy stuff of the theme, the tone is flat with every scene feeling like a discussion on the subject. The magic realism scenes – Halder imagines various people singing to him – stick out like a sore thumb and the inclusion of Halder’s first wife is confusing. Good does boast decent performances, however. Although Mortensen’s quiet take on Halder is never exactly powerful, his reserved handling of what Halder goes through is impressive, lifting a one-note character off the page.

Review by Gavin Burke