‘The Good Half’ Tribeca Film Review: Not Even Nick Jonas Can Save This Indie Flop

There have been many talented musicians who have given excellent performances in high-profile movies like Justin Timberlake in The Social Network and Inside Llewyn Davis and Lady Gaga in A Star is Born. There have been many children, nieces and nephews of famous directors who have proven to be as talented as their parents, aunts, and uncles like Sofia Coppola and Brandon Cronenberg. The Good Half‘s lead actor and director, Nick Jonas and Robert Schwartzman, the brother of actor Jason Schwartzman, are unfortunately in these neither of these groups – their film is one the most cliched, unfunny, unoriginal comic-of-age dramedy indie films I think I’ve ever seen.

The Good Half attempts to say something about grief, moving on after the death of a loved one, and coming to terms with oneself, but the film has nothing interesting or unique to say about these thematic ideas. It attempts to be a study of Jonas’ character but considering how weak his skills are as an actor, it is difficult to take anything he says or does seriously, much less become invested in his struggles and arc.

The film attempts to be a coming-of-age comedy in the same vein as something like Juno or a Richard Linklater/John Hughes film, but not only are none of the jokes funny whatsoever but the way jokes are delivered come off incredibly awkward.

This film not only fails at everything that it tries to accomplish, but it also fails at having its own identity because everything about this movie just comes across as derivative of better films. There are hundreds of films like The Good Half that are much better written, directed and acted that do a much better job at accomplishing what this film thinks it’s achieving, and so the end result is a film that does not really have much of an identity or a reason to be viewed.

Yet in spite of all of this, I would be much more forgiving of The Good Half if it had anything, even a tiny sliver of quality that I could attach myself to. In my review of Blood and Dust, I mentioned how despite how unoriginal and cliched the story is, I still found enjoyment in the film because of all the admirable technical aspects such as the pretty cinematography and the solid acting. I was hoping for a similar situation with The Good Half, but unfortunately, the film just does not offer anything of substance.

The film is blandly shot, the acting is nothing special, and the use of licensed music and where these bits of music are inserted is incredibly bizarre. There is just no real meat with The Good Half, so much so that 20 minutes after I left the screening of this film, I had completely forgotten about half of what I watched.