It's a powerful film on its own merits, but it also points out how tame and impotent The Reader is in examining similar issues.
1 Comment
01/02/09
Good (2008)
32
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:65
Fresh:21
Rotten:44
Average Rating:4.9/10
Consensus: Though ambitious, Good stumbles in the transition from stage to screen, and Mortensen's performance isn't enough to cover its flaws.
Theatrical Release:Dec 31, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: EASTERN PROMISES' Viggo Mortensen stars in this World-War-II-era drama as a professor who is reluctant to join the Nazi party. As anti-Semitic feelings grow, he is forced to choose between his... [More]
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Jason Isaacs, Jodie Whittaker, Steven Mackintosh
Director: Vicente Amorim
Reviews for Good
'Good' bares its heart on its sleeve way prior to its closing dedications.
12/30/08
It definitely wouldn't have done anyone involved with Good any harm to ask what relevance heavy-handed history plays have to do with the world of today.
12/31/08
Good is an admirable though poorly-executed adaptation of Scottish playwright CP Taylor's 1981 play about the rise of Nazism. But it never acquires the play's philosophical weight, dramatic power or provocative imagination.
10/18/08
The original play, once dubbed one of the 100 best of the century, is fleshed out with skill by Amorim but somehow his film never comes fully to life. Even its melodramatic ending falls flat.
04/17/09
It is a fine piece of acting from Mortensen, who portrays his character’s weakness superbly. But Good sometimes lacks pace and direction. On balance this is an intelligent and sensitive approach to a very dark era of history.
04/17/09
Good’s attempts to diagnose the cancerous spread of Nazi influence through Germany’s population in the mid-’30s is laudable, but despite Mortensen’s stoic talents Halder is just too hollow a character for this to be anything other than a vapid parable.
04/17/09
There's probably a great film to be made about the way ordinary Germans succumbed to the allure of Nazism – but this weakly directed film, adapted from CP Taylor's acclaimed 1981 stage play, isn't it.
04/17/09
A tale illustrating the banality of evil is as timely as ever but the execution is heavy-handed and even with location filming and elaborate sets it still feels very theatrical.
04/21/09
This film contributes to the important debate about morality in times of political trauma and oppression of personal freedoms
04/02/09
To its credit, Good is at least a piece with something serious to say, with little of the meretricious responsibility-deflecting that The Reader dealt in.
04/17/09
A strong cast and good starting material doesn't manage to save this unsuccessful adaptation.
04/17/09
Mortensen isn't bad, though he looks merely absent-minded rather than anguished.
04/17/09
Good has solid performances, but it has a hollow emotional core and, ultimately, lacks any enough insights and suspense to keep you truly intrigued.
01/30/09
To those who wonder if we really need Hollywood to give us more Holocaust stories, I would argue yes, just better ones than we get with Good.
12/30/08
A character study of a Nazi quisling that's frequently too muddled to reach even the level of banality.
12/20/08
Good is pretty schematic — betraying its theatrical roots, perhaps. It's also a little drawn out. But it demonstrates the surprising power of character flaws in drama.
12/29/08
Top CriticUltimately Good, like its central figure, seems to lack the courage of its convictions.
04/17/09
Though the film opens with an intriguing burnished look, it bogs down about halfway through with talkiness and uneven pacing. When reality finally dawns on Halder, it is not only too late for him to redeem himself, but too late for the audience to care.
12/30/08
By all accounts, Taylor’s play was a more experimental piece than this film, in which the production values, like the acting, veer between the acceptable and the stodgy.
04/17/09
Latest News for Good
December 15, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review 
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December 15, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review
More...
August 26, 2008:
Trailer Bulletin: Good
The trailer for "Good," Vicente Amorim's Viggo Mortensen-led adaptation of the long-running C.P. Taylor play about a man's hellish descent into the Nazi Party during World War... More...
September 12, 2007:
RT Talks Eastern Promises with David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen
The upcoming Eastern Promises marks the second collaboration between David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen since A History of Violence in 2006. A crime drama with an interest in... More...
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