I Am a Good Person/I Am a Bad Person

The latest effort from Toronto-based do-it-yourself filmmaker Ingrid Veninger, I Am a Good Person/I Am a Bad Person follows fledgling director Ruby White as she and her 18-year-old daughter Sara (Hallie Switzer) head to Europe for festival screenings of Ruby’s latest movie – with complications arising as Sara decides to go to Paris rather than to Berlin with her mother. Veninger does a nice job of immediately establishing the off-kilter dynamic between the protagonists (eg after arriving at a hotel room, Ruby announces “I get the big bed!”), and it does become clear that Sara has essentially been forced to become the parent in their relationship. And though it initially seems as though the film is going to chart Ruby’s efforts at becoming more responsible and Sara’s efforts at becoming more spontaneous, Veninger offers up a surprisingly (and disappointingly) uneventful midsection that revolves primarily around the characters’ aimless exploits in their respective cities (eg Ruby wanders through train stations and parks attempting to recruit audience members for her movie screening, Sara hangs out with a relative in Paris, etc). The incredibly subdued nature of this stretch is ultimately more than a little wearying, and it does become impossible not to wish that Veninger would include one or two plot developments of a substantive nature. Having said that, the writer/director does a nice job of portraying the individual dilemmas faced by both characters – with the compelling, travelogue-like visuals perpetuating the movie’s affable atmosphere. The inclusion of a few standout sequences towards the end (eg Ruby delivers a hilariously honest introduction for her movie) confirms I Am a Good Person/I Am a Bad Person‘s place as an uneven yet watchable piece of work, though one ultimately can’t help but wish that Veninger would attempt something with a little more plot and purpose.

**1/2 out of ****