The Good Girl
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Movie Reviews of The Good Girl
Movie Review: Jennifer Aniston is bored to tears working at Retail Rodeo
Summary: 4 Stars
"Bruce Almighty" is obviously the movie in which Jennifer Aniston is the leading lady that has made the most money, but it is by no means a Jennifer Aniston film. If she wants to point to something other than "Friends" to show what she can do as an actress then "The Good Girl" is probably going to be her first choice. In this 2002 film from director Miguel Arteta she plays Justine, a 30-year-old clerk who is bored to tears by her job at Retail Rodeo where the only excitement is when Cheryl (Zooey Deschanel) makes one of her "Attention, Shoppers" announcements over the public address system and starts spewing insults and bizarre nonsense. Cheryl is dispatched to doing makeovers for women customers (whatever is management thinking?), while Justine notices Holden (Jake Cyllenhaal), the new kid at the store who is reading "The Catcher in the Rye" and who dispenses its wisdom to his new friend. Holden's name is really Tom, which makes his ranks about hypocrisy rather ironic, but clearly he is the first breeze of any kind in Justine's life in a long, long time. Whatever his name, a college dropout sure beats what is waiting for her at home.Justine is married to Phil (John C. Reilly), who paints houses and always wishes it was raining so he can keep watching television. Justine would like it if he bothered to fix the television set and to have himself tested to see if he is the reason they have not had a child. Phil spends more time with his best buddy, Bubba (Tim Blake Nelson). During the day they paint houses and during the night they smoke weed and watch the tube. Bubba thinks of Justine as the ideal woman and having turned his back on ever having a relationship of his own with a woman vicariously enjoys the happy marriage of his best friend. No wonder Justine falls pretty to Holden's advances and their first tryst at a fleabag motel turns into grabbing every possible opportunity to do it again. Unfortunately, the amorous couple are seen and in an escalating series of events we wonder how high of a price Justine is going to have to pay.
"The Good Girl" does not represent so much the dark side of Jennifer Aniston as it does the sad side. You know that in every small town in America there is a girl with looks but without ambition who parlays her attractiveness into marrying a local stud who would never get out of that town alive. Actually, none of this background is mentioned in the film, but it makes sense that Phil must have done something in the past to get a girl like Justine. What is important in this film is that whatever he had and whatever he offered Justine it is long gone. This is a marriage that has no reason to exist beyond the fact that it does, which helps explain the resolution of this film as much as anything. The performance by the four principles are solid enough, and the supporting cast offers a variety of eccentrics that flesh out this particular seedy little town. "The Good Girl" is as much a character study as anything else and whatever its limitations finds a large measure of redemption in the final scene between husband and wife.
Movie Review: Aniston Is Good
Summary: 4 Stars
The Good Girl offers Jennifer Aniston a chance to play against type and she shows she can play a character that is the 180-degree turn from her role as Rachel on Friends. Ms. Aniston stars as Justine Last, a thirty-year old woman who is caught in a dead-end job at a store called Retail Rodeo and in a stagnant marriage to Phil (John C. Reilly). Phil is a shiftless slob who is constantly sitting in front of the television smoking dope with his painting co-worker, Bubba (Tim Blake Nelson). At work Justine starts falling for a troubled new cashier, Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal). Holden is a twenty-two year old college dropout and has a troubled life of his own. His real name is Tom, but he adopted the name Holden from Catcher In The Rye and he wants to be a writer. Just like Holden Caufield, Tom has psychiatric problems, but he makes Justine feel alive again and they enter into a [love] affair. Justine is torn between her love for Holden and the guilt she feels for having an adulterous relationship. Justine and Phil are trying to have kids, but have been unsuccessful and in one very humorous scene at fertility clinic, Phil asks Justine to help him in providing the clinic with a sample. Justine does become pregnant, but the movie leaves it uncertain to who is the father. One is lead to believe its Holden, because the fertility clinic tells Phil that his sperm is no good, but they never divulge the secret. At the end of the film, Holden robs the Retail Rodeo of about $20,000. He asks Justine to run away with him and Justine must decide whether she goes with Holden or stays with Phil. The film is a dark and somewhat depressing tale, but is tempered nicely with comic relief, most notably provided by Zooey Deschanel as Cheryl, an acerbic co-worker of Justines at the Retail Rodeo. She starts the film off as the P.A. announcer in the store and her bizarre and hilarious announcements on store specials are priceless and she has the habit of slipping the most inappropriate words into her sales pitches to customers at the cosmetic counter where she applies the most garish makeup looks to be both herself and customers. John Carroll Lynch is an underrated character actor and he gives yet another strong and under appreciated performance as Retail Rodeos store manager. Director Miquel Arteta creates a perfect visual landscape for the film. The dusty and windy setting of the nameless Texas town where the story takes place fits the despair of the film and screenwriter Mike White adds all the right touches to the script as well as acting as a security guard at Retail Rodeo who is a religious zealot. In the end, this film relies on Ms. Anistons performance. The film tries to make her look unglamorous and douty and that doesnt quite work, but she gives a very strong performance and is worthy of the praise she received for the role. I wouldnt go so far to say it was Oscar worthy, but it is by far the best acting job she has done outside of her brilliant work on Friends and it was definitely among the ten or fifteen performances from an actress in 2002Movie Review: Morally and Intellectually Intriguing
Summary: 4 Stars
The Good Girl is a difficult story in some ways, primarily because of its subtlety. Difficult for the viewer in that he/she will likely not know how to feel about its tone nor what to think, at its conclusion, about the morality and quality of life of its characters. For the filmmakers and actors, it must have been a greater trial. The deleted scenes portion of the DVD is revealing of the ultimate decision to deliberately leave out emotionally explosive and enlightening scenes, thus creating an ambiguous atmosphere throughout the film.In The Good Girl, Justine Last (Jennifer Aniston) is lost, angry and ultimately dissatisfied with her life. Her husband is thoughtless pot smoker Phil Last (John C. Reilly.) Phil's best friend and partner in a house-painting business, Bubba (Tim Blake Nelson) sits eerily beside his friend and quietly longs for Justine.
At the Retail Rodeo, Justine passes the days shirking her duties and chatting with friend Gwen Jackson (Deborah Rush,) until she meets Holden Worther (Jake Gyllenhaal,) quiet, closed off and actively depressed checkout person who enjoys reading and rereading Catcher In The Rye. Justine's soul-deep ennui urges her to connect with Holden and they quietly slip into an affair.
The complications involve Gwen's food poisoning from bad blackberries, Bubba's continued fascination with Justine, and ultimately, the depth of Holden's mental illness -- sufficient to drag Justine headlong into lapses in judgment, compulsive lying and even a brief contemplation of murder.
Yet as viewers, we walk away half-smiling, wanting for Justine to rip herself free from the mire her life has become. What might have easily turned into a clichéd romantic comedy or revelatory mid-life crisis "feel good" film has instead, under the skilled control of writer/actor Mike White and director Miguel Arteta, become an unnervingly life-like picture of personal upheaval. Every performance is strong, from Aniston and Gyllenhaal's desperate immorality right down to the comically twisted mischief carried out by Cheryl (Zooey Deschanel.) Love it or hate it, The Good Girl will leave you thoughtful.
The DVD (Twentieth Century Fox Home Video) is mis-packaged. Describing the film as "a quirky comedy about first encounters and second chances," the blurb on the back of the DVD case is sorely misleading, likening the film's merits (or lack thereof) to what one might find in a Meg Ryan romantic comedy.
DVD features include the 94-minute feature film in full screen and anamorphic widescreen, 9 deleted scenes, alternate ending, gag reel, full-length writer/director commentary, and best of all, an illuminating scene-specific commentary by Jennifer Aniston.
Movie Review: A great independent movie
Summary: 4 Stars
Before watching The Good Girl all that I had heard of it was that Jennifer Aniston was very good in the role. In fact there's a lot more to it than that. The movie concerns a bored 30 year-old woman Justine (Aniston) who begins to wonder whether her life could take a more exiciting turn than her dull life with her husband after meeting young co-worker Holden. Rapidly beginning a passionate affair with him Justine suddenly discovers that passion and excitement can be found even in the most hopeless of places. What makes the film special really though is the fact that The Good Girl doesn't fulfill the audience's dream. If Justine had run away from her yobbish husband and found happiness with a younger lover it would have been a beautifully evoked yet still simplistic story. As it is each character has their own complexities and in the end it is the question over whether passion and excitement are mere pipe dreams or whether there are some people who are just content to give up on them is driven home so subtly yet resolutely by the end that you cannot help but identify with such realistic characters that have no idea as to the answers just as the audience doesn't.The acting, just as hyped, is sublime. Aniston sheds Rachel of Friends forever and proves once and for all that if one of the cast has a chance of making it big in the movies then it's her. Her endearing nature and ability to act like a down-to-earth shop assistant and really make you believe that underneath it all she harbors the same disappointments and regrets as everyone else is extraordinary. Aniston's performance is superbly supported by Jake Gyllenhaal (who made such a fascinating breakthrough in Donnie Darko), who plays the young co-worker who offers Justine an opportunity to escape. For those who might have worried that he would be unable to put in anything but a darkly intense performance as he did in Donnie Darko, he lightens up significantly in his love of Justine. He, just like Aniston, is though equally able to play two sides to the persona, as his obsessive nature gradually takes over his love. For Magnolia fans there's also a gentle turn from the increasingly popular John C. Reilly. This makes it the kind of cast that any well-versed movie fan will relish.
Whilst it's true that The Good Girl may not be as humorous as it has been deemed, it is nonetheless one of the most impressive movies to have been released during the past year. Its complexities and involved character interrelations in addition to a script that fails to pander to an audience that may want an easy resolution ensure that it will stand out as one of the forerunners in an indie scene that is becoming evermore popular.
Movie Review: Don't steal and don't be disturbed
Summary: 4 Stars
This is an odd movie to write a review for. However, since most people reading this are looking for an answer to the question, "Should I watch this or not?" I'll give you a quick answer: Yes. It's worth every penny- for a rental, at least."The Good Girl" is like no movie I've ever seen. That's not a compliment, and it's not a criticism, it's just an observation. I don't want to pigeonhole it into any one genre. The movie has plenty of very funny moments, but it's not a comedy. It's also rather depressing (at first) but it's not "black." It's dramatic, but can't really be classified as a typical drama (although that's the section it's in at the video store).
In short, it's just a bunch of stuff that happens.
THE GOOD:
There are a lot of very funny moments that will have you laughing out loud- sometimes at moments that you're not sure you should be laughing. The cast performs every character in "The Good Girl" superbly, from Jennifer Aniston's ramshackle Justine to Jake Gyllenhaal's sullen Holden to Justine's slovenly but affable husband Phil (played by John C. Reilly). Of course, I must mention Zooey Deschanel as cynical cashier Cheryl, one of the funniest and all-around best supporting acting performances I've ever seen. And yes, I am now officially a fan of Jennifer Aniston, even though I'm decidedly a non-fan of "Friends" (I tried watching it after seeing "The Good Girl," but couldn't get into it).
THE BAD:
Although the acting is great, it sometimes seems like they're acting in different movies. Holden's movie is a bleak tragedy, Justine's is a finding-yourself drama, and Phil's is "Half Baked" (cheap joke, I know). Justine is a hard character to empathize with, because you come to dislike Justine's paramour Holden more than her husband.
However, you do want Justine to find happiness. But you know it's going to be hard for her to do so with any of the people in the movie. She's not a heroine, she's not a villain; she's just a human. She screwed up and she knows it. It'll help to keep in mind while watching this movie that all it's characters should not be looked at as either protagonists or antagonists, they should be looked at as humans.
The movie left me a little depressed after watching it, but the more I thought about it the more I liked it. It's a good cautionary tale. One of the things that tells me if a movie is good or not is how much it sticks with me after I see it. I rented this, watched it twice, and cannot get it out of my head. I'm planning to buy it.
"The Good Girl" is good, and it's worth a rental.