Nothing Good Ever Happens (2016)
Neil is a painter and graphic designer. On a morning just like any other morning his girlfriend Amanda leaves him and moves out of their house (don't worry, it's a rental.) That morning Neil tries to cope as best he knows how, but in a strange turn of events he ends up shooting back a glass of bleach. He wakes up to suicide watch and court appointed therapy as well as the empty void Amanda left. Now Neil has to decide what he can do to feel better about himself. Should he get Amanda back? Make his old friends like him again? Confront his estranged father? Eat a ton of Chinese food? Or maybe he should just finish his latest goddamned painting. Will he figure it out? Well you better hope so.
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good back-story, and good acting
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
"Nothing good ever happens" deals with a young man, who after a series of bad events is faced with the decision to make some changes in his life in order to live more happily and reach a state of satisfaction that he's currently missing.The movie is produced with a lot of love, even though it is easy to tell that it is a low-budget movie from the sometimes bumpy acting. The film deals with the "normal" questions that most people have to face at least once during their lifetime. How to go on after a break-up, how to deal with friends that became strangers and when it is best to give up old anger in order to start into a better future. In general this is achieved with a lot of humor and some wisdom and you could say that it is indeed quite a feel-good movie. The only thing that really bothered me is that I don't find jokes about the shoah acceptable, no matter in which context or from whom.All in all this is a small film that deals with big questions without carrying a heavy moral. It is carried out with a lot of heart and enthusiasm, which makes up for the sometimes lacking professionality.
Dejected painter and graphic designer Neil (a fine and likable performance by Josh Miller) attempts suicide by drinking bleach after his girlfriend Amanda (the always adorable Erin P. Ryan) leaves him. Can Neil find a way to get out of the funk he feels trapped in?Writer/director Henrique Couto keeps the engrossing story grounded in a thoroughly believable everyday reality that's further enhanced by the colorful array of flaky, yet true to life characters, maintains an amiable quirky tone from start to finish, tops things off with a wickedly hilarious sense of dark humor, and offers several poignant moments amid all the laughs. Moreover, the excellent acting by the bang-up cast keeps this movie humming, with especially stand-out contributions from Bradley Diehl as Neil's loyal friend Dave, Marylee Osborne as butch, but tender lesbian Mia, Chandra McCracken as irritating therapist Dr. Kelley, Iabou Windimere as the sweet Sarah, Geoff Burkman as Neil's regretful wayward dad Eddie, and Coquette de Jour as kooky med school student Jessie. However, it's the way Couto astutely captures the oppressive nature of depression as Neil continually struggles to find some kind of happiness in his wretched existence that makes this film so special and moving. A lovely film.