MARCH 23 • 2023 | 77

ZACH BRAFF’S 
COMEBACK? FONDA AND 
TOMLIN, AGAIN; MARK 
TWAIN AWARD FOR 
ADAM SANDLER
A Good Person opens in 
select theaters on Friday 
and opens “wide” on 
March 31. It was directed 
and written by Zach Braff, 
47. Florence Pugh stars 
as Alison and Morgan 
Freeman co-stars as Daniel. 
Here is the capsule plot: 
Alison, an opioid addict, is 
involved in a terrible auto 
accident. This accident 
kills her friend, Daniel’s 
daughter. Daniel feels that 
Alison shared blame for 
the accident and Alison 
harbors a lot of guilt. Years 
later, Alison seeks help for 
her drug problem and hap-
pens to run into Daniel. To 
Alison’s surprise, he shares 
his struggles with her (like 
raising Ryan, his teenage 
granddaughter). As you 
might guess, forgiveness is 
the take-away lesson of the 
film.
Zoe Lister-Jones, 40, 
plays Simone, one of the 
film’s six lead characters. 
Simone is described as 
a “hardened veteran of 
Alcoholics Anonymous, but 
an earthy, good soul.”
The film’s trailer has 

one funny moment: The 
always-funny Jackie 
Hoffman, 62, plays a crazy 
neighbor who stands on her 
lawn and screams at Ryan’s 
teen lover as he exits, 
half-naked, from Daniel’s 
house.
Frankly speaking, this 
film is a “make-or-break” 
moment in Braff’s film-
making career. Braff was 
the star of Scrubs, a hit 
sit-com, when he surprised 
everyone with Garden 
State (2004). He wrote, 
directed and starred in this 
film. Braff’s character credi-
bly dealt with severe family 
problems while, at the same 
time, he entered a charming 
and quirky romance.
Garden State was a 
critical and box-office hit 
and Braff was a “golden 
boy.” But his filmmaking 
career since has been 
a dud. It’s no accident 
that the trailer for A 
Good Person says: “From 
the director of Garden 
State [a 2004 film].”
After Garden State, 
Braff’s acting career 
remained “OK,” but he 
just couldn’t write or get 
financed (not clear which) 
a follow-up film. Finally, 
he got the public (Kick-
Starter) to finance Wish 
I Was Here (2014), a film 
that Braff wrote, starred-in 
and directed. It’s about a 
Jewish family, and it had 
many Jewish-related plot 
moments. But it was, sadly, 
not a very good film. Critics 
panned it and audiences 
stayed away.
I suspect A Good 
Person would not have 
been financed if Pugh, a 
“hot,” Oscar-nominated 
actress (Little Women), 
wasn’t “attached” as the 
film’s star. Pugh and Braff 
were romantic partners 
from 2019-2022 and they 

lived together during the 
pandemic. Their relation-
ship “raised eyebrows” 
because Pugh is 20 years 
younger than Braff. They 
have re-united to promote 
their film.
Moving On opened in 
a handful of theaters on 
March 17. As I write this, 
the opening week “take” 
isn’t available. If it did well, 
it will open “wide.” In any 
event, it will start stream-
ing sometime in April. The 
film got a good, if not stel-
lar, Variety review when 
it played the Toronto Film 
Festival.
Moving was directed and 
written by Paul Weitz, 66. 
The Variety review said: 
“Weitz started his career 
with the hit American Pie 
… and basically made a 
career-telling decent, dis-
posable stories of stunted 
maturity since (About a Boy, 
Admission). His one great 
film was Grandma (2015).
In Grandma, Weitz 
got great performances 
from Julia Garner and Lily 
Tomlin. Garner played a 
(broke) young woman who 
wants an abortion. She 
seeks help from her lesbian 
grandma (Tomlin).
Tomlin co-stars in Moving 
On as a lesbian who 
detests the recently 
widowed husband of a 
late, great friend of hers. 
Another friend (Jane Fonda) 
of the deceased woman 

seriously wants to mur-
der her friend’s husband. 
Their hatred is gradually 
explained.
Variety said Tomlin and 
Fonda, as usual, had some 
real chemistry, and the film 
has some really good dra-
matic moments — even if 
it isn’t great. So, it’s worth 
putting it on your streaming 
list.
As I write this, Adam 
Sandler, 56, is scheduled 
on March 19 to receive the 
prestigious Mark Twain 
Award for American Humor. 
The ceremony is held 
at the Kennedy Center. 
A video of the ceremony 
will be shown on CNN on 
Sunday, March 26, at 8 
p.m. It’s likely there will be 
encore showings and it will 
be available on-demand.
Kennedy Center Presi-
dent Deborah F. Rutter 
said: “Adam Sandler has 
entertained audiences for 
over three decades with his 
films, music and his tenure 
as a fan-favorite cast mem-
ber on SNL. Adam has cre-
ated characters that have 
made us laugh, cry and cry 
from laughing.
Here’s the list of funny 
people taking the stage 
to honor Sandler: Judd 
Apatow, Idina Menzel, 
Rob Schneider, Ben Stiller, 
Jennifer Aniston, Dana 
Carvey, Conan O’Brien, 
Chris Rock, and David 
Spade. 

CELEBRITY NEWS

NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST

ARTS&LIFE

WIKIMEDIA

Zach Braff

WIKIMEDIA

Julia Garner

 IMDB

Adam Sandler

