Michael Keaton explores the highs and lows of modern parenthood in the new family drama Goodrich. The feature from writer/director Hallie Meyers-Shyer (Home Again) introduces Keaton as Andy Goodrich, a man whose life is upended when his wife enters a 90-day rehab program. Left on his own in charge of their nine-year-old twins, Andy leans on his adult daughter Grace (Mila Kunis) from his first marriage to help keep his life together. 

Goodrich is undeniably carried by Keaton’s incredible charisma. On paper alone, you’d be hard-pressed to get me to root for Andy — a man who doesn’t notice his wife has a pill addiction, and can’t even tell you what grade his kids are in, let alone their teacher’s name or what time school starts. 

But Keaton’s charm smoothes over Andy’s decidedly rough patches, drawing the viewer in and making you empathize with him. Despite his obvious flaws, Goodrich does an excellent job of also demonstrating Andy’s better qualities. He obviously loves his twins; he cares deeply about the employees at his art gallery; he takes the time to listen to the struggles of another parent he meets at dropoff (Michael Urie) and offer kind words and advice as best he can. When he desperately needs to land a flashy new client to keep his struggling gallery afloat, he seals the deal by demonstrating a sincere respect for and knowledge of the artist’s work and appealing to her as a person, not just a means to an end.

With Keaton as the dramatic anchor and emotional core of Goodrich, the family drama unravels quite nicely. You feel invested in Andy’s life and relationships, particularly that with his older daughter Grace. Keaton and Kunis have a great dynamic that draws you in; you can see how much Andy and Grace care for one another. But at the same time, the difference in how Andy shows up for his young twins and in how he often fails to support Grace the way she needs is stark.

The film’s major flaw is that it simply takes too long for Grace to get to her breaking point. By the time she’s ready to actually talk to her father about their issues (or scream at him in the street right before going into labor, as the case may be), Goodrich is rushing towards its final moments. There just isn’t time to explore the fallout and resolution of their conflict.

Michael Keaton and Mila Kunis in Goodrich

On one hand, I appreciate that Grace and Andy seem able to come to some sort of understanding about how important they are to one another; I’ll even admit that thanks to some beautiful acting here by Keaton and Kunis, the emotion of their exchange in the hospital made me tear up. 

But on the other hand, the sentimentality comes across as a little too shallow, lacking genuine catharsis. Sure, Andy’s definitely making an effort to do better by his young twins now. But from Grace’s perspective, he was already better at being a father to them than he ever was to her. 

Grace gets to release the burden of bottling up decades of her feelings, and Andy reinforces his love for her… but that’s sort of all that happens. It all rings a little hollow: an apology delivered without any real plan or intention to make amends. I wish that Grace’s confrontation of her father would have occurred a bit earlier, so that we could have the space to see Andy really demonstrate not just that he understood her, but that he would make a real effort to do something about it.

Overall though, Goodrich delivers an easily emotional and compelling family drama, elevated by a top-tier Keaton performance. If you’ve ever described your relationship with your father as “complicated”, there’s a good chance this film will have you reaching for the tissues.