Good Sam is a feel good Netflix original about reporter, Kate Bradley (Tiya Sircar) who is placed on a more upbeat story after chasing fires, robberies and murder. Bags of cash are being left on peoples doorsteps without and explanation and Kate is left to figure out who 'Good Sam' really is and what's motivating them to do good.
The concept for the whole film and the general message behind it of helping other people was interesting and I believe to be an important one but the way it played out made it feel cheesy and juvenile especially with Kate's love interests on the side. I think this diluted the message making it more into a romance then anything else especially with the way it ended.
The main love interest, Eric Hayes (Chad Connell) played his part well as the hero firefighter who believes they're just doing their duty and isn't really saving lives. He was easy-going and a pleasant addition to the film especially to add more to the sweeter side of the morals of the story when almost everyone else seemed out for themselves.
Kate's camera man, Josh (Jesse Chamacho) was the sweetest part of the film and I wouldn't get mad if the whole film was just about him. He seemed so much more down to Earth and relatable then Kate, he believed that 'Good Sam' really was just doing something good while Kate was convinced there was an ulterior motive behind the generosity. In most parts, especially the beginning, she came across as stuck up, entitled and selfish witch followed into her wanting to keep on the story because she recognised the global potential which made it difficult to relate to her from the off set which tainted my viewing of the rest of the film.
For me the 'twist' ending wasn't much of a surprise and I could see it a mile off which didn't really take away from the film but I would have liked to be surprised when Kate found out who Good Sam really was. For me it was just more a case of learning all the facts as Kate did and finding out why instead of who as she pieced everything together.
It was interesting to see how the news stations compete against each other for the story and how they were working for the most views and an exclusive story with exclusive footage like the fire scene in the beginning. I also found it interesting to see how the reporters were moved around from story to story depending on what was getting the most attention and coverage as the 'Good Sam' story grew.
The ending was cute and ultimately fulfilling as it fit with the rest of the film and showed a 'one month later' clip to show Kate after the story carried on to inspire people to do good things and help others.
Overall God Sam was a light-hearted and easy-going films that had important and progressive themes that should be discussed more especially with everything bad that's happening all over the world, we deserve to see some good things focused on and celebrated in the news rather than terrible things that are happening. For that reason and mostly that reason alone I recommend this film to anyone that's looking for something more up-lifting to watch when you they can't think of anything else.