A One Mann’s Movies review of “The Good Nurse” (2022).
I’m filling in the final part of my jigsaw for the major categories at tonight’s BAFTA awards with this Netflix movie that features a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Eddie Redmayne. And I think it’s a great call by BAFTA, since Redmayne’s performance is fabulous in a quiet and creepy way.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
Amy (Jessica Chastain) is a nurse in trouble at a US hospital. She has a heart condition that she has to keep secret from the administration until she’s worked there for a year, and she’s four months short. Fortunately help is at hand in the form of Charlie (Eddie Redmayne) who joins her on the night shift and can help keep her secret and support her. But then patients unexpectedly start ‘coding’…
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC: “Strong language”).
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Eddie Redmayne, Nnamdi Asomugha, Noah Emmerich.
Directed by: Tobias Lindholm.
Written by: Krysty Wilson-Cairns. (Based on the book by Charles Graeber).
Twitter Handle: #GoodNurseFilm.
Friends and colleagues. Redmayne as Charlie and Chastain as Amy. (Source: Netflix)
“The Good Nurse” Review:
Positives:
- Never have the words “Based on a True Story” been more chilling. In the UK there have been some well publicised cases of “angels of death”, including the cases of Colin Campbell Norris in Glasgow and, more recently, Victorino Chua in Stockport. But these known cases pale into insignificance compared with Charlie Cullen’s alleged record. The movie cleverly and creepily paints Charlie as a lovely, gentle soul willing to bend over backwards to help Amy with her job and her kids.
- Key behind making this work is Eddie Redmayne who is a very safe pair of hands. His nomination for the BAFTA (dubiously “Supporting” rather than “Lead”!) is well-deserved. It’s a very quiet and restrained performance for most of the movie, but an interrogation scene near the end is an extraordinary piece of acting.
- Jessica Chastain is a class act as always, and in the supporting roles as the two cops are Nnamdi Asomugha and Noah Emmerich. (If you are trying to place Emmerich, as I was, he played Marlon – Truman’s best friend in “The Truman Show”).
Negatives:
- The story is quite slight and slowly delivered. I was never bored, but there were times where I think they could have got more of a move on. It could perhaps have worked better if 10 minutes shorter.
Summary Thoughts on “The Good Nurse”:
This is a really solid Netflix film, telling a shocking true story… even more shocking when you get to the “factoids” presented in the closing titles. It’s worth watching as a wannabe actor purely for ‘that scene’ with Eddie Redmayne. One that would be fabulous to try to recreate to practise your craft.
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Trailer for “The Good Nurse”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0DQevX-GZs .
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