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The Good Nurse
(Netflix/Protozoa/Filmnation)
By Lucas Allen
Based on the book by Charles Graeber, “The Good Nurse” is another of Netflix’s never-ending obsession with true crime stories. Especially with their recent series “Dahmer” dominating the conversation, this film plays down the insanity of that show by going low-key with the danger and the suspense. This is the first Hollywood feature of Danish filmmaker Tobias Lindholm, who previously directed the Oscar-winning drama “Another Round.”
Taking place in 2003, Amy (Jessica Chastain) has been trying to balance her night shift position as a nurse at a New Jersey hospital while raising two daughters as a single mother. Unfortunately for her, the stress of it is becoming harmful to her heart condition though she’s just waiting it out to get health insurance. One day, she meets another nurse named Charlie (Eddie Redmayne), who was transferred from a previous hospital. The two quickly strike up a friendship and he even helps her deal with her heart problem. But when an elder patient they were watching dies, it leads to the hospital conducting an internal investigation.
Detectives Tim (Noah Emmerich) and Danny (Nnamdi Asomugha) tried to find some evidence, but the legal liability of the hospital’s PR (Kim Dickens) made it impossible. They then turn to Amy by informing her that the mysterious death could be linked with other deaths at various hospitals committed by Charlie. When the toxicity report is revealed to her that it was intentional insulin overdose, she starts to fear for her life and her kids especially when he’s already close to her.
The story certainly has a lot going for it about being in an unexpectedly dangerous situation within a normal job environment. You feel for the main character going through a personal and professional crisis of her own only to find herself involved in a more terrifying crisis. The movie doesn’t go too in-depth on the killer’s motivations and instead, they only show some of the more important details on the crimes themselves. The end result is a nicely told story that even when you know where it’s going, you’ll still find it suspenseful enough especially without some thrills.
However, the biggest drawback this movie has is its sluggish pacing for a two-hour film when the story could’ve been told in a substantially shorter runtime. There are some considerable scenes focusing on the detectives’ investigation versus the hospital’s bureaucratic attitude, and this is where it drags the story a bit too much. It makes the film less of a thriller and more like TV-quality procedural. It’s less problematic in the second hour, but maybe some further creative liberty in the script could’ve made it any more exciting.
Fortunately, the acting does help elevate the material from mediocre to average. Chastain gives a very good portrayal of a working-class woman stuck between a rock and a hard place. The Oscar-winning actress does well with expressing emotions through her eyes plus her facial expressions. Redmayne is good mostly when he plays the quiet, reserved nice guy for much of the movie. When the killer reveals his true form in the end, the actor seems to be unnecessarily overdoing it almost to the point of being hilarious.
True crime fans will likely eat this one up more, but “The Good Nurse” is best seen as merely a weekend afternoon time-waster. It’s not bad, but it could’ve been better especially with this much talent put on screen.
THE MOVIE’S RATING: R (for language)
THE CRITIC’S RATING: 2.75 Stars (Out of Four)
