Life is always filled with fascinating surprises and experiences because of how people from different venues meet and collide in unexpected circumstances. Good Egg is a funny and exciting comedic feature that is heavily inspired by the likes of great action comedies such as the Coen brothers’ Raising Arizona. The film by writer and director Nicole Gomez Fisher (who made this feature based on her journey of becoming a mother) also tells an essential story about relationships, womanhood, and the challenges of being (or becoming) a mother.
Good Egg centers on Jessica (Yara Martinez), a high school drama teacher and wife who’s married to Gordon (Joel Johnstone), a computer expert who works at a bank (hilariously called Last Hope Bank) and aspires to become a magician. Jessica and Gordon desperately want to have children, but since Jessica is physically unable to, they contemplate over other methods of having a baby, such as finding an egg donor. Jessica encounters a potential donor in Bridget (Andrea Londo), who Jessica accidentally runs into when seeing Bridget being bullied by two men, one of whom is Bridget’s partner Sal (Nick Creegan). Bridget comes up with the idea to give her eggs to Jessica in exchange for cash since Sal and his associate Gio (Nicholas Cirillo) want money from Bridget that’s owed to their crime boss Nick (Joseph Melendez), who runs a casino in Atlantic City.
When Gordon figures that Jessica is in trouble and tracks her location in Atlantic City, he desperately tries to find his wife and get her back safely with the help of Jessica’s sister Rebecca (Sharinna Allan) and her boyfriend Miggy (Haas Manning). Along with his search for Jessica, Gordon also worries about Dustin (Gopal Divan), his awkward boss at the bank who needs his computer fixed and has some money embezzlement problems according to the F.B.I.
Good Egg is a hilarious film with several characters and storylines that are intriguing and exciting to watch because these are real problems and risky situations. Along with the resemblance of several Coen brothers films, this feature also embodies action comedies like Money Talks, Rush Hour, and The Hangover. Characters dealing with money issues and contrasting personalities who must work together to resolve their issues. Jessica and Bridget become friendly because they both have family ordeals and are trying hard to be good mothers.
Gordon and Jessica have a loving relationship despite their struggles to have a child. While there’s some funny arguments, Gordon develops a comedic buddy relationship with Rebecca and Miggy as they track down Jessica. Sal and Gio also provide plenty of comic relief as criminals who constantly lose control of any situation because they are also desperate men trying to prove themselves to their boss.
Martinez is a standout as Jessica because she perfectly balances the protagonist’s genuine sense of humor and her worrisome vulnerability as a wife determined to become a mother. As Bridget, Londo not only portrays her character’s elegance but also her intelligence and complexity that raises questions in whether she can be trusted. Johnstone makes Gordon a likable and loving husband, as well as an underdog, who’s easy to root for because he goes through several ordeals to save his wife and his career. Allan and Manning provide plenty of laughs as Rebecca and Miggy, respectively, as do Creegan and Cirillo as Sal and Gio, respectively, due to each pair’s comically argumentative behavior towards each other.
The movie has an energetic, upbeat soundtrack (from composer Nima Fakhrara) and some vibrant shots of New York City (from cinematographer Eun-ah Lee), including the bank near the Queens Boulevard viaduct, and the Atlantic City casino in New Jersey. These shots of the bank and casino are perfect urban atmospheres that signify the elaborate lifestyles of the middle to upper class characters, including where they work and driving sequences. The casino also adds elements of surprise as the protagonists and antagonists face off against each other in a battle of wits.
For fans who crave a film with adventure and comedy, Good Egg is worth a hatch.
