Michael Keaton’s dramedy announces a better film

Unexpected phone calls in the middle of the night are usually not good news. In “Home Again,” writer-director Hallie Meyers-Shyer’s mediocre L.A. dramedy “Goodrich,” the title character (played by Michael Keaton) learns the hard way. A phone call from his wife wakes Andy Goodrich in the early hours of the morning to inform this shocked, distant husband (who didn’t even notice she wasn’t home) that she is being admitted to a rehab facility in Malibu for 90 days to deal with her addiction problem to solve. Andy has to look after her 9-year-old twins. She also tells him that she will leave him as soon as she gets out.

With his sad eyes, expressively raised eyebrows and the characteristic mysticism of his hoarse voice, the understated Keaton carries this sensitive and generously composed opening, proving that the seventy-year-old actor is as ready for material rooted in earthly concerns as he is for this , recreating his playful “Beetlejuice” extravaganza. This opening also happens to be some of the best writing that Meyers-Shyer (daughter of renowned filmmakers Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer) provides in “Goodrich,” and is endowed with the kind of narrative economy that keeps the viewer intrigued by the exciting story.

Through these moments, as we follow Andy’s escalating attempts to understand the gravity of the situation, we learn that he hasn’t exactly been a model husband or father – not to his young twins Billie (Vivien Lyra Blair) and Mose (Jacob Kopera). . certainly not to Grace (a wonderful Mila Kunis), his daughter from his first marriage, who is now expecting her own child. Although as a gallerist he has always prioritized his work in the art world, Andy still mixes up his children’s names and has no idea about his wife’s drug addiction, while everyone else around him seems to be way ahead of him, feeling it was with their habitual one Finished taking the pills.

The quality of “Goodrich’s” screenplay varies considerably after this riveting introductory section, as scenes unfold like mini-episodes – some skillfully delivered, others flat and trite – that steer Meyers-Shyer’s script unevenly. At its core, their story feels like an ode to ensemble-driven home cooking (see the R-rated “We Bought a Zoo”) and celebrates the importance of family and communal camaraderie as Andy finds his true place among the many roles , which he is expected to play. In a way, it’s the kind of thoughtful cinematic comfort food we don’t get much of anymore: a film with a reliable cast that you can wander into spontaneously on a whim and leave satisfied. However, a rambling feel hinders Goodrich’s good intentions and leaves you wanting something leaner, with a firmer control over the pace.

Instead, the film often drags on and practically calls for some compact montages, like those that spice up some Shyer-Meyers films, such as “Baby Boom”. Here, an excess of material diminishes the humor and poignancy of the film, although many of the story’s characters are colorful enough if they are not written too artificially.

Young Billie (and the guiltless Blair, who gets stuck on some impractical lines) get the short end of the stick here, with an exaggerated vocabulary and mannerisms far beyond her years. (An example? “Dad, if you don’t want me to talk like I live in LA, then don’t raise me in LA,” the little girl snaps sarcastically when Andy criticizes her incorrect use of the word “like.” ) ) Luckily, the more elegantly written Grace negates some of this misjudgment, as the fish-out-of-water Andy with the twins relies on them for help with housework and for moral support when his ultra-chic independent art gallery’s struggling financial problems compound itself. Elsewhere, Terry (Michael Urie), a newly minted aspiring actor and father heartbroken after his husband’s departure, joins Andy’s circle of friends, giving the film a lighter feel.

A major plot point of “Goodrich” revolves around whether Andy can win over the estate of a recently deceased black artist, now managed by her feminist New Age daughter Lola (a seductive Carmen Ejogo), and protect his prized gallery from the can maintain closure. This struggle takes place in parallel with Andy’s attempts to reconcile with the justifiably ambivalent Grace, who has never experienced the kind of present father that Billie and Mose now seem to enjoy. Meyers-Shyer accurately and clearly addresses the understandable disappointments of Grace, who nevertheless supports her father’s last attempt to save his career while navigating the challenges of her pregnancy and her doubtful future in entertainment journalism. The writer-director also shows some skill in portraying Grace’s fulfilling marriage to Pete (Danny Deferrari), giving the couple one of the most beautiful marital harmony scenes since Pixar’s “Up.”

Unfortunately, Meyers-Shyer’s precision on the page doesn’t translate to some other parts of her film. We meet the staff at Andy’s gallery in several disjointed scenes that don’t add up to an emotional whole. Her occasionally comical portrayal of Terry sometimes comes dangerously close to an outdated gay best friend cliché, while the Lola story feels like a long-winded storyline meant to serve Andy’s self-discovery. While it’s refreshing to see a powerful black woman unafraid to articulate and claim her worth (and her mother’s), Lola leaves the story too harshly and abruptly.

Overall, “Goodrich” is all ups and downs – much like Andy’s life – and leaves you hanging with the much better film that is often touted but never quite becomes.