Although too long and overstuffed with gooey goodness, Turnover succeeds as a well performed feelgood comedic drama that champions diversity, even if the results are at times grating.

Making a movie is a hard task. Even more so is making a movie where its sole aim is to spread goodness through its message. Turnover is a film that tries to do just that, and mostly succeeds in doing so. Directed by Linda Palmer (Last Call at Murrays), Turnover stars Paul Guilfoyle as Peter, the owner of a popular French café who has also taken his eye of the ball when it comes to his marriage (nearing a divorce), his health (nearing a heart attack), and his business.

The latter is exemplified by his scheming manager Henry (Riker Lynch). Overworked and resentful, Henry takes advantage of Peter’s long absence and hires a crew of misfits and outcasts to work in the café, before leaving for a lucrative position in the fancy new Mediterranean restaurant down the street.

Peter returns to find his restaurant run by strangers. There is the dweebish manager William (Adwin Brown); bossy elderly hostess Gladys (Julia Silverman); goth chick with attitude waitress Pepper (Isabella Blake-Thomas); Chicano biker cook Miguel (Carlos Carrasco); and down-syndrome pair Charlie (Blair Williamson) and Gina (Jamie Brewer). Palmer introduces these characters as stereotype, but then fleshes out these characters with varied back story. Sometimes it works, as exemplified with Miguel’s side story as a caretaker for his deathly ill mother. Other times it is an annoying distraction, such as when Pepper confronts her mother in a hospital for reasons ludicrous and out of the blue.

What keeps Turnover from flipping on its head is the terrific performance from Paul Guilfoyle. Known more for playing tough cops and sleezy gangsters, Guilfoyle delivers a funny and heartfelt turn as a man stuck in a malaise in his life that he either doesn’t realise or refuses to accept. Disrespected by his ex-wife (Kat Kramer) and betrayed by his best employer, Peter finds solace and resurgence in the form of a group of strangers who quickly become family.

At 123 minutes, Turnover does feel too long, with too much time spent on side characters who bring nothing to the story. There is also the stench of gaudy goodliness that is especially presented in the form of one too many embarrassing guitar singalongs. What there is no denying is the spirit that Palmer conjured in her story of a man who finds redemption and family in the most unexpected of places.