Goodrich is writer-director Hallie Meyers-Shyer’s second feature film. The daughter of Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer (two filmmakers who defined this type of dramedy in the 80s and 90s), the filmmaker has taken a screenplay riddled with the most familiar clichés and carved out a warm and heartfelt narrative that is more emotionally affecting than it deserves to be. This is a film of conflicting parenthoods that focuses on how a parent can become too wrapped up in themselves, not realizing the lasting effect it will have on the children.   

An outstanding Michael Keaton is Andy Goodrich, an Art dealer who operates a sophisticated Los Angeles gallery. Andy’s work is his life, as he spends most of his time away from home. One night, he gets a call from his wife Naomi (Laura Benanti) who informs him that she has checked into a 90-day rehabilitation program for substance abuse. Andy is taken aback, as he is so immersed in his work that he hadn’t noticed her struggle with alcohol and prescription pills. As Naomi tells him she is also leaving him, Andy’s bewilderment rises to unfathomable levels.  

As Andy is thrust into being parent number one, he is forced to take full responsibility for the household and, especially, the couple’s nine-year-old twins Billie (Vivien Lyra Blair) and Mose (Jacob Kopera). The stress and pressure begin to boil, as Andy finds himself navigating school drop-offs and pick-ups, daily meals, bedtimes, and everything he never had to worry about because he knew his wife was handling it. 

Andy finally reaches out to his older daughter from another marriage, Grace (an equally good and never better Mila Kunis), who is pregnant with her first child. She agrees to help out when she can and occasionally watch over her step brother and sister, two siblings she doesn’t really know. While Andy and Grace are estranged due to his years of parental neglect, this opens the door to a chance at deeper connection between father and daughter. Perhaps in the crises of adulthood, the two can find the bond that should have existed all along.

There aren’t any dramatic beats that will feel fresh to anyone who has ever seen a movie, let alone one helmed by the director’s mother. Meyers-Shyer’s screenplay hits all the familiar beats, while one could almost see Andy as the grownup flipside of the character he played in Mr. Mom. While that film had the actor fumbling around in what was basically a ridiculous big screen sitcom, Goodrich gives the actor something to work with. 

Keaton is fantastic here, using all of the skills that make him such a unique performer. He gets to be funny, but not broadly, as his role lands somewhere in between his characters from Ron Howard’s cult classic Gung Ho and Ron Underwood’s under-appreciated 90s romantic comedy, Speechless. Keaton gets the chance to be funny, charming, and real. Whenever the screenplay begins to drown in familiarity, Keaton’s wonderful work elevates every moment. The actor grounds his character in reality, cultivating Andy’s emotions and rightfully never going over the top. Michael Keaton and Mila and Kunis give tender, nuanced performances that find the complexities in the father-daughter relationship and strike earned emotional gold when they share the screen together. Their newfound connection is the soul of the film. 

It is interesting to watch the absent dad and his pregnant firstborn form their shaky-but-hopeful new bond and their conversations about parenting past and present are clever and well-written. Where the script fails them (and the film) is in not making their relationship the main focus. Andy’s financial troubles regarding his gallery and a red-herring character (Carmen Ejogo) are important to the story, but threaten to take away from what matters most, the time spent between Andy and Grace. 

Goodrich mostly works, but this is a film that holds zero surprises. A side character (Pete, a single gay dad played by Michael Urie) is hackneyed in design. As Pete and Andy bond over single parenthood, viewers will see where this is going a mile away. The character is reduced to a complete cliché and, in an offensively handled scene, becomes a cartoon. From the moment Pete is introduced, we know where this is going. The character could have been completely removed from the final cut and it would not have altered the film. 

With the inclusion of Pete, Andy dealing with his kids’ strict school, his clumsy attempts to bond with his twins, and a few other tries at humor that fall flat, it is the imbalance between the comedy and drama that hurts the impact of many a moment. With all of the film’s overly-familiar dramatic and comical beats, the emotional sparks between Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis carry the film. The two actors’ do strong work that finds a truth to their characters. Due to their fine performances, there should be some viewers that find their eyes welling up with tears. 

As Mario Puzo wrote, “The only wealth in this world is our children. More than all the money and power on Earth.” Andy Goodrich knows this, but it has long been buried inside him. It takes the threat of a personal and financial undoing for him to see his place in the world more clearly. Andy is a father and this is his reason for existing. For all the film’s flaws, it is the power of the character’s awakening (and the performances from Keaton and Kunis) that makes Goodrich a time well spent. A bumpy road, to be sure, but the film’s message comes from a pure place. 

As singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston wrote, “True love will find you in the end… Don’t be sad, I know you will, But don’t give up until…” 

Goodrich

Written and Directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer

Starring Michael Keaton, Mila Kunis, Carmen Ejogo, Vivien Lyra Blair, Jacob Kopera, Michael Urie, Laura Benanti, Kevin Pollack

R, 111 Minutes, Stay Gold Features,  C2 Motion Picture Group, Rainmaker Films, Ketchup Entertainment