Today, I saw Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.  This should give you a good window as to how things work here at The Legionnaire.  When I returned home from that particular debacle, and having completed my other duties for the evening, I turned back to Netflix’s “Feel Good Movies” section.  It was needed.  I do not like to be cynical, or even critical for that matter.  I put myself in this situation, and I will tell myself from time-to-time that reviewing movies beats digging ditches in Louisiana.  I stole that line from Patton (1970).  When the title character (George C. Scott) is talking to his men about the meaning of their part in World War II, he tells them that they will be able to look their grandchildren in the eye and not have to say that they performed menial labor.  It is meant to inspire them in battle by letting them know that their potential sacrifice has an impact on this globe spanning conflict.  As absurd as it might seem to say, this what I see myself doing with The Legionnaire.  This is also why I watch movies like Good Sam (2019).

Kate Bradley (Tiya Sircar) is not Good Sam.  Hey, it could be short for Samantha, even though it clearly is not, but we will talk more about this in a moment.  Instead, she is a reporter for a local television news station in New York City.  She is known for covering dangerous stories, and we see this in the opening sequence when her and her cameraman, Josh (Jesse Camacho), pull up to a burning warehouse.  Seeing the competitors’ news vans there already, she takes the camera and tries to get some up-close shots.  In the process, she is almost killed by falling debris.  She is saved by Eric Hayes (Chad Connell), a firefighter working to put out the blaze.  Upon returning to the station, though Kate is able to capture some great footage, David Dyal (Mark Camacho), her boss, tells her that the higher-ups do not want her pursuing these kinds of pieces.  It has something to do with insurance.  Anyway, the next day’s assignments from David bring her a soft special interest bit about a person who had $100,000 left on her doorstep.  This person turns out to be Christina Gomez (Christina Tannous), and she had been having a number of financial problems.  The donor left no clue as to their identity, but there is a sideway “8” painted on the canvas sack.  Shortly after speaking to Christina, Kate gets a tip on another person who had the same thing happen to her, an oncologist named Marie Ellis (Myléne Dinh-Robic).  As this is unfolding, Kate cannot believe that anyone would want to do good simply for the sake of doing so.  She is a firm believer in ulterior motives.  Part of her belief in this stems from her father’s world, Senator Ashok Bradley (Ivan Smith).  Despite the seediness of politics, Kate still loves her dad and accepts an invitation to a fund-raising event.  This is where she meets Jack Hansen (Marco Grazzini).  He is a hedge-fund manager and is introduced to her by Senator Bradley, dad hoping to set up his daughter.  She turns him down, though, because she has a strict policy of not dating anyone in her father’s circle.  She is saved from having any further awkward interaction by another lead on the good Samaritan story.  This is injured construction worker Jesse Durham (Vince Benevenuto), who had gone through all of his savings and was running up debt while not being able to be on the job.  By this point, though the details are still limited, Kate’s reporting is capturing the public’s attention, which is how the still anonymous donor gets shortened to the title of the movie.  It is only added to when a fourth person comes forward, a paralegal needing money to go to law school named Faith Haywood (Jodie Lynn Resther).  Additionally, the people that are receiving these sums of cash are doing charitable works of their own.  Christina buys her neighbor a car; Marie gives it all for cancer research, Jesse puts some towards a local food bank, and Faith’s is already established.  Feeling pretty good, Kate finally accepts a date with Jack, which goes well, but does not get a second.  Meanwhile, with a lull in the money drops, Kate is sent to do a piece on a brick layer dangling from a platform off the side of a building.  The person who comes to the rescue is Eric.  Wanting to do an interview with him, she goes to his firehouse.  It should be noted that this is not the first time outside of their initial meeting they have met.  For a moment, Kate thought he was his brother Patrick Hayes (Robert Crooks), a one-time investment banker, now deceased.  Eric does not want to do interviews, but gets Kate to agree to go on a date with him.  Unfortunately, it is about this time that David takes her off the Good Sam story, giving it to the station’s more seasoned reporter.  Yet, just as things are taking off with Eric, Kate gets a text from the real Good Sam saying that he is ready to reveal himself.  This turns out to be Jack.  Everything appears to line up, and it brings Kate a great deal of notoriety.  However, it eventually comes out that he is a copy-cat, and was using the fame to launch his political career.  Because Kate’s reputation is on the line, she goes back to trying to find the real person behind these incredible gifts.  This time, she discovers the link between the first four recipients, and it leads her back to Eric.  His brother had left him the boat on which Patrick died, the result of an accident that happened while they were on the water together.  Because Eric got the insurance money from the lost vessel, and blamed himself for not being able to save his brother, he split the money between four people that had an impact on Patrick’s life.  Yet, he still did not want to take credit.  Instead, Kate sets the record straight with some more reporting, and is able to live happily ever after with Eric.

Please do not confuse Good Sam with the television show of the same name on network television.  I have no idea what the series is about, but I am willing to bet it is not as schmaltzy as the movie.  When you have a film with this kind of tone, they are usually thin in some areas.  Here it is character development.  Nonetheless, I will take this over Transformers: Rise of the Beasts any day of the week and twice on Sundays.  Good Sam is about people doing good.  We get the term “good Samaritan” from the Bible.  You can find it in Luke 10:29-37.  Jesus uses the story of somebody outside of normal Jewish society doing charitable deeds for another person and expecting nothing in return as a way to inspire his followers to do the same.  The film does not touch on the Christian roots of this concept, although Christina clearly sees what happens to her as a miracle.  She makes a great follow up point when she mentions how these acts of God lead to others.  This is the only direct reference, but there are some parallels to be made.  In the film, all four of the first recipients do not horde their newfound riches to themselves, instead paying it forward, to borrow another cliché.  The early Church worked this way, too.  Having witnessed firsthand what Jesus did for us, those initial disciples went into the world and created the community and traditions that have been handed down to us today.  I daresay that this movie would not be possible if not for what they did.

If you are looking for a movie that is going to get your blood pumping and sitting on the edge of your seat, then Good Sam is not for you.  However, consider how much more comfortable you would be if you did not experience these sensations.  Instead, you can watch a movie that, even if it is not the greatest, will make you feel better about humanity.  The world needs more of these kinds of sentiments.