Customer Reviews

The Good Girl (Widescreen/Full Screen)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(49)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(22)
1 star:		(39)

 

 

An intelligent, well acted, sometimes funny, sometimes sad
look at the dead end reality of small town life.

There's also something a tiny bit condescending about it. It sometimes
feels distanced from and judgmental of it's own characters and world.
And occasionally it pushed a little hard to be `quirky'.

But it more than makes up for any flaws it with its good, true
moments, both dramatic and comic.

And it has stayed in my memory in an ever more positive way.

First off, this movie has some great acting...it's understated because the subject matter never strays from the mundane.

My problem with this movie is that there is no magic. No greater storytelling art. The plot reads like a page from a small town's newspaper.

The movie is overall fairly depressing. It starts off with Aniston's character in a crappy point in her life. The story evolves and things just seem to spiral out of control for her. The events serve no larger purpose however. In the end there is no lesson to be gleaned, no 'light at the end of the tunnel', the downward spiral is just like watching a person slowly ruin their life.

I found this movie far too real. The story is the kind of thing you could find out about your neighbour. It's frustrating to watch a movie this dark, and for it to have no purpose or message to the despair. It's like a reminder you don't need that the world is a crappy place sometimes.

This movie starts out with an intriguing situation. Jennifer Aniston plays a depressed Retail Rodeo employee with a pig of a husband. She plays the role convincingly, making viewers feel the world of a small-town Texas woman.

When she meets a new employee, a disturbed but more intellectual young man, she thinks she's found an escape from her daily drudgery.

From this point on, events spiral downhill and the movie becomes disappointingly predictable. The element of surprise is lost and viewers are taken on a formulaic ride where predictable consequences come from foreseen actions.

It's not a bad movie to watch on those nights when you want something light, just don't expect surprises.

I have read all the other reviews for this movie and I am truly very surprised with how many people enjoyed it. I tried, really, to like this movie, but it is one movie that I truly despise. The story line in itself is unoriginal and also stupid. A woman is having a really bad life, so she starts trying to fix it, no big deal, maybe even intersting. But then her way of "fixing" it is to be in an affair with a strange pyscotic younger man. Not exactly what I think would qualify as fixing. This movie did not hold my attention and to this day I am sorry for the time that I will never get back that was spent watching that movie.
On the plus side, the acting from Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhaal is very well done. That is the only plus side for the entire movie. Do yourself a favor and watch something you won't regret later, "Office Space" or "The Day After Tomorrow" if you're stuck on the actors, perhaps. Both of those movies are signicantly better.

Can Jennifer Aniston do anyting better than "Rachel" after the successful TV drama that went on very long (or too long)? "The Good Girl" is the answer. Yes, she can, and in a surprising way.

Justine (Aniston) is working at a mini-mart in Nowhereville, Texas, completely dissatisfied with the humdrum life with her pot-smoking husband (John C. Reiley), who just doesn't care anything about his life. Her work is boring, always in a drab uniform which makes eveything in her life quite hopeless.

But one day, she notices that a young boy working in the same shop is interested in her. She is attracted to this boy (Jake Gyllenhaal, "Donnie Darko") who has, however, a slightly troublesome tendency. He calls himself "Holden" because, yes, he identified himself with that anti-hero of "Catcher in the Rye," and like Holden, this boy perhaps thinks too much.

Now, Justine thinks: "Could this strange boy is the last and only help offered to her?" Can she escape from the dull reality of life? And if escape, how and where? It's the same case as Madame Bovary, whose name is briefly referred to in the film.

"The Good Girl," written by Mike White (who wrote alarmingly unique "Chuck and Buck"), follows the life of Justine with a wry humor. Written with skewed perspectives, the film is never predictable, giving us a few surprising moments and one very serious decision Justine has to make. It is effectively supported by original characters played by Tim Blake Nelson, Zooey Deschanel, Deborah Rush, and Mike White himself as church-going guard.

Its dark humor is not for everybody's taste, and the undercurrent statement on life is often disturbing. But Jennifer Aniston's acting as Justine is strong (though you may still see something of Rachel in her.) The film, in its own quiet way, will make you grin, and then think ... think particularly about life as it is, not as it should be.

Jennifer Aniston's work has never struck me as being either deep or watchable, but I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and engaging quality of 'The Good Girl'.
Aniston's character, depressed and miserable in her marriage and in her job (a dead end job that she probably only ended up with because she was undereducated, a point another reviewer below sadly missed, judging by his misinterpretation of her response to a comment by her coworker regarding 'The Catcher In the Rye'), begins a friendship with a coworker several years younger than herself. She both enjoys and fears this relationship because although it makes her happy, she is terrified that her husband will find out about it. Her anxiety and fear increases when her husband's best friend finds out about her relationship and blackmails her into having sex with him.
She reaches a crossroads, a point at which she must choose between the husband she loves and despises in equal measure and the relationship that she had begun with her coworker.
I found it intriguing that when faced with what was the most important decision of her life, she made the choice that lead her back to the existence she hated. Ultimately, neither choice probably would have made her happy but she chose the path toward the familiar, deciding that the awful life she knew was preferable to a leap into the unknown. Her decision had dramatic, tragic consequences, both at work and at home.
Aniston's acting was brilliant. I was amazed and completely drawn in by the film and by her performance in particular. She has a genuine talent and range I was completely unaware of, and now I'm anxious to see her future projects. 'The Good Girl' is wonderful in every aspect, from the writing to the cast, and the direction is flawless, lending a very real sense of the desolation and loneliness that is this woman's day to day existence. It's the kind of film that resonates, staying with you long after the credits roll.
Absolutely wonderful!

Saw this movie in the theaters when it first came out and i thought it was great... jennifer did a outstanding performance... seems simpleton minds like Monkeytot are the only twit's here... he can't seem to tell between fantasy and reality like the character in Catcher in the Rye... let me tell you a little secret Monkeytot about this movie and most movies in general... Jennifer didnt write the script nor that line you mentioned... she didnt make up the line neither it was someone else's work... not everyone in the U.S. much less the world has read Catcher in the Rye and thats what they were showing in that scene with Justine.. that she is a simple girl from a small town who was never into reading till she met Holden (if your going to call anyone a twit wouldnt it be someone who names himself after a character in a book?)... so maybe you should watch the movie again Monkeytwit and "think" for once.. as for the movie to everyone else.. i give it 5 stars... and recommend it to anyone..

That's the problem. Once you've watched an actress in a weekly show for 10 years (and then watched it a zillion times after that!) you find they can no longer play any other character. The only differences between Rachel & Justine, is that one has a sometimes tedious southern/Texas drawl (can't decide which it wants to be), and the other is very posh! OK, maybe Rachel isn't that posh.

Jennifer Aniston also performed her first sex scene in this movie. OK, it's hardly a lot - you can't see anything, and Brad apparently told her to "go easy" on Jake Gyllenhaal! It does come across as the awkward first time sex with someone, and that does come across well.

Justine does come across as quite a selfish character in the movie. She drops Holden in it at the end of the movie, and when her 'friend' Gwen goes into hospital, instead of staying with her, she goes to meet Holden. In the movie, it never came across as Gwen & Justine being that great friends, they were work colleagues, nothing more. Of course you're gonna go off with a cute guy if you're gagging for it! If it was your best, best friend, then maybe you'd stay at the hospital. This is all put into perspective when Justine discovers Gwen has died. She starts pulling away from Holden at this point, and almost seems to resent him because she died.

I didn't really like Jake's character, Holden in this. He was nice enough at the start, and actually looked quite cute! He played a very similar character to Donnie in Donnie Darko. But halfway through, at the same point as when Gwen died (and perhaps even before then) he becomes extremely clingy and possessive of Justine. She comes across as his first true love, but the OTT possessiveness is enough to make any girl back off!

This film is always described as being hilarious, and a comedy. Am I the only one who didn't find that? I found it more of a drama than anything. It was extremely powerful, thought-provoking, and very sad. The finale was a bit disappointing, but I was rooting for them to stay together. I always do! I suppose every relationship goes a bit stale after a while, as Justine's and her husband's has, so the same probably would have happened with Justine & Holden.

I also noticed in one scene, when Bubba and Phil are sitting watching TV, they are actually watching the sickest cartoon ever, Happy Tree Friends.

Is Jennifer Aniston dumb or what? in this movie someone says he was named after Catcher in the Rye (its a book) and she say "Your name is catcher?" When the guy ment the character in eh book Holden Cawfield!!! She is a total twit!! Must be why she and that other no-brainer Brad Pitt get along so well!

Jennifer Aniston What an idiot!!!

"The Good Girl" is the first black comedy I've actually found funny, I can't say I'm a fan, I remember watching "Meet The Parents" and I was literally falling asleep (who needs sleeping tablets when you can watch "Meet The Parents"?), anyway, this movie is an excellent piece of work and Jennifer Aniston is exceptionally good in it too, she's nothing like Rachel (yeah you all know who Rachel is!) and you don't even think to yourself that the acting as Justine isn't working, she really moves away from her Friends character and I think that's a good thing 'cause now that Friends is coming to an end (I'm a BIG fan so I'm disapointed like the rest of you!) she can work on her movie career and this movie is a brilliant one. The story is one most of us can relate to, you've been working at the same place for years but it seems like forever and a day and you just want out, you've just had enough and need to escape, Justine (Jennifer Aniston) finds that chance to escape and more than a couple of decisions come her way. I strongly recommend you watch this movie because it really is amazing and although the average rating is only three on this website I think you should give it a chance, I do think you will like it.