Fish and Cherries Productions

Summary: Kate Bradley (Tiya Sircar) is an ambitious reporter for Channel 12 News in Brooklyn with a nasty habit of endangering herself to get the good story. After doing it one too many times, her higher ups, fearing repercussions if she eventually gets hurt, put her on a fluff piece about some random woman getting an anonymous donation of $100,000 in cash. But the plot thickens as similar donations are given out to different people as well, prompting talk around the news circuit that a real life good samaritan is out there. Lisa believes this mysterious donor has an angle and resolves to keep digging to find out who they are and why they’re doing this, taking Lisa on a personal journey that gives her a look into many different lives and gives her a good hard look at her own cynicism.

Review: Good Sam thankfully did not name its lead character Samantha as I feared it would, which would have probably been too on the nose and cheesy for this movie. Despite it ultimately being a sweet feel-good, idealistic movie, it doesn’t completely shun cynicism and manages to keep a healthy balance between the two opposing sides. The movie’s stance amounts to “good can change the world, but selfish people can take advantage of it if we’re too trusting.”

This viewpoint is perfectly embodied by our lead heroine and it makes sense. She’s a reporter and therefore needs to be objective and a little cynical, lest she get enamoured with a red herring or small aspect of the story and lose the big picture. It also helps the emotional payoff when she does find the truth and her worldview opens up a little, even if she still ultimately remains the same character. That’s a refreshing take in itself: she develops as a character, but ultimately stays the same person with another scoop to chase and the same devotion to her career.

I would honestly recommend this movie, not just for the good production and the diverse cast, but the nature of the movie set against our current era. We live in an age where people in power step on the weak and we’re forced to question everything, especially our news. Good Sam reminds us that even in such a time, moral integrity and cautious optimism are virtues. Not to mention that Tiya Sircar is an incredibly charming actor and hopefully this paves the way for more leading roles for her. Sure, maybe some of the acting can be a little wooden or underplayed, but if you’ve got a Netflix connection, hop on and give it a watch.

Fun Tidbit: The movie was not actually shot in New York (I don’t have the information on where exactly), so the crew used a digital artist to create the skyline. Most of the time it works, but there are a few shots involving mirrors that clearly show the unedited skyline.