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Tom's Guide
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
This overlooked Florence Pugh drama movie is about to leave Prime Video — and it deserves way more love
Florence Pugh has delivered some incredible performances in everything from 'Midsommar' to 'Little Women' to 'We Live in Time,' but it's her quiet, unassuming role in 'A Good Person' that hit me hardest. And I'm willing to bet it's one performance you haven't seen. Released in 2023 and written/directed by Zach Braff, 'A Good Person' went unnoticed. It didn't make a big splash at the box office, and despite Pugh's deeply affecting performance, it never quite reached the level of attention it deserved. Which is why it's a shame that this emotionally layered drama is about to disappear from Prime Video on May 29. The first time I saw it, I didn't expect it to stay with me the way it did. Pugh plays Allison, a young woman whose life is derailed after a tragic accident. What follows isn't a neatly wrapped redemption arc but a story that's messy and painfully human. Her scenes with Morgan Freeman, who plays a grieving father navigating his own demons, are among the most emotionally honest I've seen in years. So before it leaves Prime Video, give 'A Good Person' a chance. It might not be the Florence Pugh movie people talk about most but it just might be the one that lingers the longest. Allison (Florence Pugh) is a vibrant young woman with a promising future, engaged to her high school sweetheart, Nathan (Chinaza Uche). However, her life takes a tragic turn when she causes a car accident that results in the deaths of Nathan's sister, Molly (Nichelle Hines), and Molly's husband. Allison survives but is left grappling with immense guilt and physical injuries. A year later, Allison is battling a severe addiction to painkillers and living with her mother, Diane (Molly Shannon), who struggles to support her daughter's recovery. Meanwhile, Daniel (Morgan Freeman), Nathan and Molly's father and a former police officer, is raising his teenage granddaughter, Ryan (Celeste O'Connor), who is dealing with the loss of her parents. The lives of Allison and Daniel intersect at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, leading to an unexpected and complex friendship. Together, they confront their shared grief and personal demons, seeking forgiveness and a path forward. I'm a very sensitive person, so it doesn't take much for a movie to get a few tears out of me. But 'A Good Person' had me full-on sobbing at one point, which just proves how emotionally powerful this drama really is. There are so many layers that slowly peel back over the course of the story, it naturally pulls you through the motions, meaning one minute you're feeling hopeful, and the next, your eyes are puffy from crying. 'A Good Person' begins with a happy moment, where Allison and her fiancé, Nathan, are having the time of their lives at their engagement party, with their family and friends surrounding them. It's a heart-warming moment, but also a bittersweet one, considering you know something bad is about to happen. But that's one of the movie's strengths. It doesn't drag out these happy scenes, because tragedy can happen at the most unexpected times, and it makes the car crash scene even more devastating. The emotion really stems from its central characters and their personal journeys, especially Allison, who not only shatters her own life, but the lives of those around her. That includes Daniel, who would've been her father-in-law. Both of their stories interconnect in a powerful way. But what's most impressive about 'A Good Person' is that none of these characters are actually good, they're just broken. Allison is in denial and spiraling into addiction, while Daniel is struggling to reach his rebellious granddaughter. They are fractured people, and fate brings them back into each other's lives. While most of the movie is quite heavy — especially the scenes of Allison falling back into a bad habit and not receiving the proper help she needs (including a mother who doesn't support her in the right way) — there is hope buried beneath the tragedy. And as a viewer, when you're made to witness the character's worst moments, you can't help but latch onto any sliver of promise. If you're someone who can't watch a movie that's harrowing all the way through, I can say that it gets lighter, and the ending definitely brings back a sense of warmth (which is much needed after such a heavy story). How unique this movie feels will probably depend on how many similar emotional dramas you've already seen and, as with many stories like this, personal experience plays a big role in how it resonates. That said, Braff does lean into melodrama at times, where a more restrained touch might have worked better. (The emotionally intense midpoint, in particular, feels a bit overdone.) But even with those moments, he still delivers enough raw, authentic scenes between characters to balance things out. I'm surprised that 'A Good Person' received the green splat on Rotten Tomatoes. It has a rating of 57% from over 100 critics, but I'm happy that audiences gave it a much stronger score of 96%. The viewer consensus reads: 'With a profound story and some really great performances, A Good Person is a tear-jerking drama with tons of heart.' Unfortunately, this drama did get severely overlooked, and so I hope people get the chance to watch it before it leaves Prime Video this month. Florence Pugh delivers one of her most nuanced roles to date, showing a different side of her talent that's both vulnerable and deeply compelling. So if you're in the mood for a movie that's both hopeful and heart-wrenching, stream 'A Good Person' while you still can, as you might be surprised by how much it sticks with you. For alternate streaming recommendations, see what's new on the streaming service in May 2025, or check out our general guide on the best Prime Video movies. Stream "A Good Person" on Prime Video until May 29.
UPI
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Tony Goldwyn on 'Hacks' Ava firing: 'Bob was just doing his job'
1 of 5 | Tony Goldwyn, seen at the 2023 premiere of "A Good Person" in New York City, guest stars on "Hacks." File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo LOS ANGELES, May 22 (UPI) -- Editor's note: This article contains spoilers for Hacks Season 4 Episode 9 "A Slippery Slope." On Thursday's Hacks, studio executive Bob Lipka (Tony Goldwyn) ordered Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) to fire her talk show's head writer, Ava (Hannah Einbinder). Instead, Deborah told her audience on a live show she refused, knowing Bob would cancel her show. In a recent phone interview with UPI, Goldwyn said he understood his character's position. Ava had told a reporter friend about the show cutting a joke about a controversial movie star, leading to a damaging exposé. "It was fun to take a perspective that Bob was just doing his job," Goldwyn, 65, said. "In any company, that person would be let go immediately for doing what she did." The episode uses Hacks' drama and comedy to explore the ethical dilemma. Deborah joked about Ethan Sommers' (Eric Balfour) alleged controversy, but did not resist when Sommers' publicist and the studio asked her to edit out the joke. Ava disagreed with the decision but made it worse for herself when she vented to a reporter friend. Bob wanted to make an example of Ava, but Deborah gave up her entire talk show rather than let him. Bob even tells Deborah her talk show is a supporting player to what he considered the "starting lineup" that includes Sommers' Shadow Soldier franchise and theme parks with attractions based on those films. Goldwyn said he understood Bob putting Deborah in her place. "I think he needs Deborah to know that she's not getting too big for her britches," Goldwyn said. "He's telling her, 'Look, you're amazing but you do not make me the $5 billion that this franchise has made me and you have not made me the half a trillion dollars that my theme parks have made me.'" As both an actor and director, Goldwyn acknowledges that he needs businessmen to allow him to do either job. He has been acting in film and television since the '80s with credits in Ghost, Oppenheimer, Scandal and Law & Order. He made his directorial debut in 1999 with the film A Walk on the Moon, and is currently workshopping a theater revival of Pal Joey with Savion Glover. "It's a constant tension of needing to do something that's very expensive to do, that people must buy tickets in order to consume what we're creating," Goldwyn said. "Yet, we're artists that want to express the thing we want to express." Hacks takes place at a fictional studio but reflects the real entertainment industry where franchises like Marvel and legacy sequels to classics dominate the box office, and both Disney and Universal Studios have thriving theme parks. Where executives of classic Hollywood would make a movie and then try to sell it, executives now try to anticipate which franchises people will pay to see. "It costs so much to make it," Goldwyn said. "You've got to go make a multi, multi-million dollar investment just to get it in front of an audience to see if it's going to work or not. That's a big risk that financiers and studios take. I have a lot of respect for that but I wouldn't want to do that." The ethical dilemmas Goldwyn has faced in his career tend to be "more of a creative battle where you're fighting for something and the studio or whatever wants you to do something different, not a personnel issue like this." Still, Deborah and Ava had some leverage they didn't use against Bob. Both know that Deborah slept with Bob last season to get her late night talk show. Had either woman threatened to expose Bob, Goldwyn suspects their short-term gains may have been outweighed by Bob's long-term wrath. "Bob's a pretty ruthless person in business," Goldwyn said. "You don't get to be one of the Bob Lipkas of the world if you don't fight pretty rough." Goldwyn got a chance to do physical comedy in the episode. When Deborah is making her speech on the live episode, Bob goes to the control room to pull the plug. Deborah's manager, Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) wrestles the cell phone from Bob's hands and they have a comedic scuffle. Goldwyn said they only filmed two takes and the funnier one was in the show. "It wasn't exactly choreographed but in rehearsal we decided to do that," he said. "It was very messy and fun." The season finale of Hacks premieres Thursday, May 29 on Max.
Buzz Feed
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
15 Celebrity Exes Who Had No Choice But To Keep Working Together After They Broke Up
1. Channing Tatum and Zoë Kravitz first got together after working on Zoë's directorial debut Blink Twice. They were together for about three years but called off their engagement in October of 2024. Coincidentally, the news of their casting in the upcoming film Alpha Gang became public at the same time as their breakup. 2. Xolo Maridueña and Hannah Kepple dated for about three years while starring on Cobra Kai together. The pair broke up in 2022 but continued to appear on the show together until it's finale in 2025. 3. Florence Pugh and Zach Braff broke up at the beginning of 2022 but continued to work together for the press cycle of their movie, A Good Person, which Florence starred in and Zach wrote and directed. Florence shared that they actually kept their split private for a while before it was announced publicly and said, "We've been trying to do this separation without the world knowing because it's been a relationship that everybody has an opinion on. We just felt something like this would really do us the benefit of not having millions of people telling us how happy they are that we're not together. So we've done that." 4. Madelyn Cline and Chase Stokes broke up in 2021 after going public with their relationship a year prior. They continue to star on Outer Banks together and play love interests on the series. Chase is now dating country singer Kelsea Ballerini. There doesn't seem to be any ill will between Madelyn and Kelsea, though, and both have shared kind messages with each other on social media. 5. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Dany Garcia announced their divorce in 2007, but the two have continued to run their production company, Seven Bucks, together. In fact, Dany is a producer on several of Dwayne's biggest movies, including Jungle Cruise, Black Adam, Baywatch, and the Jumanji movies. Dany also manages Dwayne, and they own football minor league XFL together. Dwayne explained that he and Dany have a great working relationship, even though marriage just wasn't meant to last for them. He said, "Where we're at today comes with a lot of work and a lot of digging in. I mean, that was years ago. Now, while marriage wasn't in our cards, we did realize, 'Well, wait a second, we're building something that's pretty cool.' Marriage may not be in our cards, but building business can be. And that took time." 6. Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse dated for about three years before they split in 2020. They continued to star on Riverdale together until the series ended in 2023. At the time of their breakup, Cole said, "What an incredible experience I had. I'll always feel lucky and cherish that I had the chance to fall in love. I wish her nothing but the utmost love and happiness moving forward." 7. Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco secretly dated from 2008 to 2009 and played love interests on The Big Bang Theory at the same time. They continued to star on the series together until its finale in 2019. On the Armchair Expert podcast, she shared, "Luckily, Johnny and I came out of it so brilliantly, and we're closer today than we ever were." 8. B.J. Novak and Mindy Kaling dated while they worked on The Office together, and B.J. described their relationship by saying, "No one, including us, ever really knew, 'Is this dating? Is this not dating?' We were never really dating, we were never really not dating. We didn't know. No one knew." The two continued working together during the first season of Mindy's series The Mindy Project, where B.J. was a consulting producer and appeared onscreen as one of her love interests. The two are still extremely close friends, and B.J. is even the godfather to Mindy's children. 9. Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett met on the set of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and allegedly dated until the summer of 2020. Their characters continued to be love interests in the show's second season until their onscreen breakup in Episode 8 and Olivia's eventual departure from the series in Season 3. Around the time of their rumored breakup, Joshua was spotted with Sabrina Carpenter — thus the beginning of the heartbreak that inspired Olivia's album Sour and her hit song "Drivers License." 10. Sabrina Carpenter and Griffin Gluck first met on set for Tall Girl and began dating shortly after. They were together up until around 2020. They both returned for the film's sequel, which came out in 2022. Rachel Luna / WireImage 11. Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison dated briefly before the two were cast together on Glee. They went on to star on the show together for its entire six-season run. Eric Charbonneau / Getty Images for People Magazine In her book, Brunette Ambition, Lea shared that she and Matthew dated "for a Broadway beat" before starring on Glee together. On the series, she played a student who had a brief but intense crush on Matthew's character. Lea is currently married to Zandy Reich and they have two children together. Matthew is currently married to Renee Puente and they also have two children together. 12. Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush got engaged in 2004 shortly after One Tree Hill began airing on TV and were married in 2005, but they got divorced in 2006. They continued to work together and play on-and-off love interests until Chad left the series in 2009. Sophia told Andy Cohen, "For me, at the end of the day, my job is my priority, and so I think at the end of it, it really let me just let go of it." 13. Joey King and Jacob Elordi continued playing love interests in The Kissing Booth 2 and The Kissing Booth 3 after their breakup in 2018. On the podcast Mood With Lauren Elizabeth, Joey shared, "I'm a fan with how [the film] resonated with the world, it resonated with me. So going back and doing that and making the sacrifice of what, obviously, everyone is thinking about — outwardly addressing, but what I'm kind of on the sly addressing, making those sacrifices was totally worth it." 14. Charles Melton and Camila Mendes began dating in 2018 and starred alongside each other on Riverdale, where their characters briefly played love interests. They first broke up in 2019 and then seemingly rekindled their relationship for a short time in 2021. They continued to star on the series together until its finale in 2023. 15. Christina Haack and Tarek El Moussa got married in 2009 and started working together on their reality series, Flip or Flop, in 2013. The couple called it quits in 2016 after having two children together but continued co-hosting their show until the series ended in 2022. They now star together on a new HGTV series called The Flip-Off. A source told People magazine, "Tarek and Christina are generally cordial. They're co-parenting, and nothing gets in the way of that. The show was just too intimate of a setting at this point, and it was time to close that chapter." And upon the series finale, Tarek said, "I think we did a pretty good job, and I'm excited for what the future holds for both of us and wish [Christina] nothing but the best!"
