‘The Good Half’ Review: Nick Jonas Is The Only Surprise In A Formulaic Indie – Tribeca Film Festival

Damon Wise
·4 min read
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Sometimes it feels as though A.I. is already here, given the number of films resembling Garden State that pop up on the festival circuit every year. Robert Schwartzman’s The Good Half is only the latest, and his attempt to out-emo Zach Braff’s legacy film falls disappointingly short, given that his last Tribeca appearance was with the surreal and underrated comedy The Argument (2020), which channeled Charlie Kaufman in the story of a couple whose obsession with a petty fight spirals into absurdity. The Good Half, however, mostly serves as a decent vehicle for Nick Jonas, who seems to making a play to be the new Adam Driver, which is not as far-fetched as it might sound.

It starts with a flashback, as our hero, Renn Wheeland (Jonas), recalls the traumatic moment in his childhood when his free-spirited mother Lily (Elisabeth Shue) absent-mindedly abandoned him during a trip to the shopping mall. Fast-forward to the present and Renn is being called and texted repeatedly by his sister and his father. Ignoring both, he heads to the airport with his headphones on, subliminally cross-promoting Schwartzman’s recent SXSW documentary Hung Up on a Dream about British rock band The Zombies by listening to Rod Argent’s 1972 solo hit “Hold Your Head Up”.

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On the plane to Cleveland, Renn is engaged in conversation over the sleeping passenger in between them by the chatty Zoey (Alexandra Shipp), who processes her fear of flying by preparing for the worst. “You’re wanting this flight to be all quiet,” she says, “and me, someone who’s really afraid of flights, wants it all to just turn into a Michael Bay film.” Zoe teases more details about Renn: he likes “sad British pop” (which explains the later use of Colin Blunstone’s “Say You Don’t Mind”), he’s a Cleveland native, and he’s returning to visit his family. This isn’t strictly true; Renn is coming back after the death of his mother and has timed his return so that he will miss her pre-funeral wake.

After an awkward chat with his father Darren (Matt Walsh), long separated from Lily, Renn meets Zooey for a drink. Zooey reveals that she is a therapist, in town for a conference, and is going through a divorce. Renn reveals nothing about his feelings or his situation, in stark contrast to his breakfast meeting the nest day with his sister Leigh (Brittany Snow), in which his cynicism is unfiltered. Nevertheless, he goes ahead with her plans to collect their mother’s belongings from the hospital, go to the funeral home and pick out a suitable coffin with their much-hated stepfather Nick (David Arquette).

With the five main characters in place, the story progresses much as you think it might, with the persistent Zoey drawing Renn out of his shell (he’s a writer trying to make it big in L.A. — of course!), and Renn finally giving in to his family’s attempts to reel him back in to what’s left of their family.  But as is always the case with this kind of story — the most recent iteration of it, Dustin Guy Defa’s The Adults, ticked similar boxes and boldly left out the funeral part — there’s a distracting whiff of white privilege. Here, that involves Renn, Leigh and Darren breaking into Nick’s home to take back some of Lily’s belongings, a supposedly comic scene that plays a little tone-deaf so soon after a Black woman in Florida was shot just for trying to retrieve an iPad from a neighbour.

Chances are, however, that the audience for this movie isn’t too hung up on identity politics or the evolution of indie, and for older, more jaded viewers, there are some pleasant diversions on the soundtrack, notably the welcome exhumation of obscure British psychedelic rockers Tales of Justine. If only the script had taken such a deep dive.

Title: The Good Half
Festival: Tribeca (Spotlight Narrative)
Director: Robert Schwartzman
Screenwriters: Brett Ryland
Cast: Nick Jonas, Brittany Snow, David Arquette, Alexandra Shipp, Matt Walsh, Elisabeth Shue
Running time: 1 hr 40 min
Sales agent: Range Media Partners

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