The Good Girl

Well this ended up being better than I was expecting as it wasn't the usual Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy (which all tend to blend together). Aniston is still another version of Rachael Green just more bored and depressed here. She does put on a great southern accent though, and outdoes herself in the wardrobe department, donning ugly sweaters and unflattering mom jeans throughout.

The movie is plugged as a comedy but honestly its fairly depressing, just kinda miserable and cheerless throughout following 'Justine' a frustrated 30 year old wife and grocery store cashier who is bored, depressed, stuck in a dead end job and married to a stoner (John C. Reilly). Her life changes when she begins an affair with a co-worker, (Jake Gyllenhaal). The story didn't at all go where I was expecting it to, entering some very dark areas.

Gyllenhaal does a great job here, he is young, intense and crazy. I also enjoyed John C. Reilly, as the husband, he's always the "nice guy" and is here too. Zooey Deschanel's character was very funny and probably the only ray of light in this. Lots of decent acting from sub characters though including John Carroll Lynch as the manager of the Retail Rodeo grocery store -which is where much of this movie takes place, the boredom and mundaneness was well represented there.

A bit of a surprise hit for me. 7/5/15

Jennifer Anniston stars as Justine in "The Good Girl", though she is far from being good in this film. Justine is bored with the monotony and lack of direction in her life. She is especially bored with her husband, Phil (John C. Reilly)--a nice but vacuous guy who'd rather smoke pot and drink beer than anything else. So does she go to her husband about her feelings of inadequacy? Nope. Instead she begins an affair with a co-worker--a disaffected goth-like guy named Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal). Of course this all ends up in HUGE complications--and what exactly these are you'll have to learn for yourself if you see this movie.

This film about dissatisfaction is well made but also very different. There is no nice object lesson in the film nor are the characters particularly nice folks you could are about when their lives go out of control. It also seems to indicate that when you are in trouble, the best course of action is to lie your butt off! Additionally, horrible things happen to nice people and jerks sometimes land on their feet just fine! Obviously, this film is not one you'll want to show the kids due to these lessons...as well as the sexual behavior. If you love Jennifer Anniston and dark humor (though this isn't exactly a comedy), then the film is clearly for you. Others might find it hard to really care about the film or the characters--making it an odd but skippable curio.

Justine works at a supermarket in a small town and is married to her underachieving painter husband. She feels trapped and unable to deal with the stagnant pool that is her life. When a mysteriously dark young man begins to work at the supermarket she gets involved with him as a way out of her normal life into something more exciting. However things get much more exciting that she expected.

Rented by my wife as she searched for something in a sort of comedy/drama. As always she has pretty good judgement and better taste than I give her credit for. I had heard reasonable things about this film but I wasn't sure if it would just be another Friends clone comedy. Happily my fears were not realised and this film is actually quite a brave shot at being a character study rather than another one of her hollow rom-coms. The plot looks at an ordinary woman who is living a life that is far below what she thought she wanted. It is not spectacular but it works well on this level. We see her pursue her supposed dream but only getting sucked into other things that she doesn't want for her life. Not all the drama works as well as others and some twists and scenes are a little too much for such a low-key film.

The film has some laughs in it, but not so many that it hurts the main drama of the film. At times the comedy works well to compliment the main thread but occasionally it is misjudged and threatens to take away from it a bit. The fact that the film is quite down beat and low-key might put some off as it doesn't really set the screen on fire, however what it does do well is develop the character of Justine as you watch the film.

As such the film does rely on the acting and the majority of it is very good. As much as I dislike her performance in Friends (and thus every repeat she's done in the films), Aniston does very well here and her Justine is as far from her Rachael as is needed. Likewise her character is as far from any life she has ever lived, but she brings it to life and does develop well while still keeping it down to earth and relatable. Reilly and Nelson have good roles that get better as the film goes on and they give good performances. Nelson has the harder job of keeping his character within some sort of relatable reality and he does it well. Gyllenhaal's character is harder to get and is not treated as well by the film, but in essence he is the driver for Justine's journey and is developed well enough to do that. He plays him well and, with Donnie Darko, is in danger of only getting the `weirdo kid' roles.

Overall this is a good film that is maybe too downbeat and understated to be really called enjoyable. It is good to see a Hollywood star make a film that is driven by her character and she rises to the challenge and gives a performance that, although not earth shattering, is certainly better than all the stuff she's been doing of late.

Years ago I had a conversation with some young guy who worked on the loading docks. He was frustrated by his life, felt inarticulate and incapable of escaping his plight or of really doing anything with his life. He had the wish but not the talent to express himself through art and felt he had nothing to look forward to. I thought of him while watching The Good Girl, a movie about a very ordinary person trapped in a hum drum existence.

I've noticed some discussion in these reviews as to whether The Good Girl is a comedy or drama, and I would suggest people stop trying to label the movie. The Good Girl clearly isn't trying to be either, but simply a movie that captures the life of someone who feels trapped, portraying both the drama and comedy inherent in life. It's a small, studied, intelligently written movie that's well worth watching. Don't worry about what it is, just watch it and take it the way you take life, not as a comedy or drama but just as what it is.

After watching the Good Girl, I now know why Jennifer Aniston was getting a lot of praise. I'm surprised she didn't get an Oscar nomination. She was very good in this because the character is nothing like her character from Friends, and she was very convincing as the bored wife in a small town who hates her job and is depressed by her stoner husband. But, I have to say her accent was not very good. Why do these actors who have never lived in the south think everyone sounds like some slow hick.

This movie is a lot more entertaining than you think just from a quick synopsis of the plot. Justine starts an affair with a young co-worker who becomes obsessed with her and turns out being mentally disturbed. The decision she makes at the end about turning left or turning right was just well written and directed. And the movie does have light laughs with the blackberries when Justing decides to buy some for Holden. And the fact her husband is always stoned with his buddy, Bubba, watching TV. But, the part where Bubba blackmails Justine into sleeping with him was just creepy because her husband is his best friend. I just didn't get that part because I don't think the character would have done that.

FINAL VERDICT: I recommend this. Don't be fooled because it doesn't have a bunch of explosions and gun fights. It is very good and a lot more entertaining than most films.