Recommendation: Good

I might as well admit now that one of my favorite actors is Viggo Mortensen and because of this, I try to keep an eye on his current projects. It seems like I spend a lot of my time waiting for movies to become available for viewing. I waited about 8 months for Good to come out on dvd/blu-ray. While waiting gives you something to look forward to, sometimes it can make your expectations a little too high.

Good is one of those movies that left me feeling a little disappointed but I still think it is worth viewing-- perhaps even more than once! If you are expecting an action/drama piece like Defiance then get that right out of your head now. It is more of a character driven, out of sequence film filled with music symbolism (I'll get to that in a minute).

What made Good interesting and worth viewing (even a second time around) is the two lead actors, Viggo Mortensen and Jason Isaacs. Viggo plays John Halder, a passive, stressed out university professor who's latest novel catches the interest of none other then Hitler himself. John's best friend, a Jewish man named Maurice, is the more carefree of the two, more outgoing and always encouraging John to live a little. The more John gets sucked in by the Nazi party, the more his morals don't seem to matter and his hunger for acceptance and prestige puts a toll on his relationship with Maurice who is obviously horrified to see his friend becoming every Jews' worst nightmare.

The script is good, the acting is top notch (although it is weird to see Viggo in such a passive role!)...so what is it about the movie I didn't like? The music drove me a bit crazy. I wasn't so impressed by the actual soundtrack and from the opening scene I was a bit thrown off by the tempo of the classical music while John sits anxiously in the backseat of a car (that you soon find out is taking him to a member of the Nazi party). I guess what I am trying to say is that during some scenes the music seemed a bit off or didn't quite fit the mood. That being said, I did come to realize that some of the music was symbolic-- I am just not quite sure I understand the meaning. There were parts where John clearly was hallucinating and music usually accompanied those illusions. Upon further reflection, I have my own theories on what it all means but I think a second viewing might help.

What do you think?

~Mia~