The Good Girl (2002)

Featured Audience Ratings

• William D

  
  First they made "Chuck and Buck" (2000). Two years later, screenwriter Mike White and director Miguel Arteta collaborated on "The Good Girl." The highly original and piercing "Chuck and Buck" is by far the better film, but "The Good Girl" has… More
  First they made "Chuck and Buck" (2000). Two years later, screenwriter Mike White and director Miguel Arteta collaborated on "The Good Girl." The highly original and piercing "Chuck and Buck" is by far the better film, but "The Good Girl" has its charms, particularly a beautiful performance from Jake Gyllenhaal as a lonely, mentally unstable college student who calls himself Holden (after the protagonist in "Catcher in the Rye"). Jennifer Aniston, in her first and last interesting film role, plays the main character, a depressed, uneducated store clerk who has an extra-marital affair with Holden that goes awry. She is married to a brainless couch potato played by John C. Reilly. As you'd expect from this filmmaking team, there's much dark humor and deadpan comedy about small-town life. At times the spirit of Todd Solondz is channelled. But nothing really surprising or compelling is ever discovered about the characters, and the comedy grows thin after a half-hour. The actors walk around in a catatonic stupor, going way over the top to dramatize their characters' stagnation and mindlessness. I'm not sure why it's interesting to depict everyone in the heartland as retarded. It certainly bears no relationship to the reality of the heartland, where there is a lot more diversity than that. After a while, it just seemed like easy jokes perpetrated by artists who weren't really challenging themselves. You could think of "Good Girl" as the last mumble-core movie. I'm quite glad that this sub-genre is pretty much dead.

• Jennifer X

  
  I didn't like it. It was so derivative yet miserable, so cheerless yet faux-introspective. Sometimes there were these departures into fantasy and I didn't know what to think of them.

• Dean M

  
  Jennifer Aniston impresses on this offbeat black comedy. Her low-pitched intensity evokes the seemingly demure Texan who secretly hates her life. The sausage-chain structure of short scenes makes the plot plod towards the end. But laugh-out-loud characters, like a sadistic make-up… More
  Jennifer Aniston impresses on this offbeat black comedy. Her low-pitched intensity evokes the seemingly demure Texan who secretly hates her life. The sausage-chain structure of short scenes makes the plot plod towards the end. But laugh-out-loud characters, like a sadistic make-up girl enhance a skillful portrait of a supposedly ordinary life.

• Jim H

  
  A bored Texas housewife begins an affair with a troubled younger man, who works with her at the Retail Rodeo. The supporting characters in this film are truly excellent. Zooey Deschanel and Tim Blake Nelson are fantastic as the main couple's co-workers, Deschanel caking makeup… More
  A bored Texas housewife begins an affair with a troubled younger man, who works with her at the Retail Rodeo. The supporting characters in this film are truly excellent. Zooey Deschanel and Tim Blake Nelson are fantastic as the main couple's co-workers, Deschanel caking makeup on her face and slipping in snarky comments over the Retail Rodeo's P.A. and Nelson's characteristic commitment to the playing the hick fool. I even found Jennifer Aniston's performance strong, eschewing her Rachel from <i>Friends</i> schtick and adopting a confined gait. The script also succeeded on many levels. The film was able to render the claustrophobic nature of these characters and this place so much so that I almost found myself rooting for Gyllenhaal's unstable character. On a certain level, the script almost convinced me that he had a point. However, the ending is rather predictable, and as the plot thinned, so did my interest. And Justine's penultimate choice makes her a highly "unfeminist" character, one to whom we may be able to relate but ultimately never want to cheer for.

• Leigh R

  
  Eh... okay movie. I watched because of Zooey and she again made the movie. But you can't resist John C. Reilly either, he is a complete scene stealer and he had my heart from his first moment on screen.

• Alice S

  
  Pretty solid performance from Aniston. Jake Gyllenhaal as Holden is oh-so-intense and romantic. I don't get why Justine doesn't tell the truth about her affair. Is it to mean she's not really a good girl? She clearly feels guilty over Holden's death, but the… More
  Pretty solid performance from Aniston. Jake Gyllenhaal as Holden is oh-so-intense and romantic. I don't get why Justine doesn't tell the truth about her affair. Is it to mean she's not really a good girl? She clearly feels guilty over Holden's death, but the last shot of her smiling at the baby seems like, "Oh, now all that's over. I can just live my life." That tone seems fitting for a much darker there-is-no-goodness-in-the-world type movie. The alternate ending reveals more of her remorse.

• Steven C

  
  "The Good Girl" should be appreciated for it's performances. Jennifer Aniston delivers some of her best work as a midwestern woman adrift. She is backed by a very capable supporting cast in Jake Gyllenhaal, John C. Reilly, Zooey Deschanel and Deborah Rush. The film is a… More
  "The Good Girl" should be appreciated for it's performances. Jennifer Aniston delivers some of her best work as a midwestern woman adrift. She is backed by a very capable supporting cast in Jake Gyllenhaal, John C. Reilly, Zooey Deschanel and Deborah Rush. The film is a lot darker than one would expect, and in that the characters really get to shine. It's not perfect and at 95 mins it does seem to run a little long, but it's worth checking out for some good actors doing what they love to do.

• Dean !

  
  A so-so very slow paced drama, with quite dark comic moments. A woman bored with her everyday life in a small town embarks on an affair with a colleague. After that it's just one problem after another. It does have the odd comic moment, but overall it can be quite a dreary drama.… More
  A so-so very slow paced drama, with quite dark comic moments. A woman bored with her everyday life in a small town embarks on an affair with a colleague. After that it's just one problem after another. It does have the odd comic moment, but overall it can be quite a dreary drama. ok story and cast, very low budget. Not bad overall, far from great!

• Conner R

  
  While I've never been a huge fan of this movie, it is very bleak and anti-romantic. I really appreciated it for doing that, but sometimes it was the movie that tended to get flat and uniteresting rather that the emotions of the characters. The best aspect was Jennifer… More
  While I've never been a huge fan of this movie, it is very bleak and anti-romantic. I really appreciated it for doing that, but sometimes it was the movie that tended to get flat and uniteresting rather that the emotions of the characters. The best aspect was Jennifer Aniston's great performance as well as Jake Gyllenhaal's and Zooey Deschanel.

• Sanjaya &

  
  To be honest, I didn't know what this movie want actually... They didn't come up with a good story, yet for a drama movie it wasn't pretty good... Just the cast who makes me want to see this movie... Jennifer Aniston & Jake Gyllenhaal, but I'm surprised John C.… More
  To be honest, I didn't know what this movie want actually... They didn't come up with a good story, yet for a drama movie it wasn't pretty good... Just the cast who makes me want to see this movie... Jennifer Aniston & Jake Gyllenhaal, but I'm surprised John C. Reilly and Zooey Deschanel was a part of this movie too... It's a disappointing that the great talent these actors have, didn't come up with a good story... Firstly I thought casting Jennifer Aniston as the good girl is a great idea, because to me Aniston is the one of the top Hollywood actress that have a nice look... But with this story, I may misjudged that... Overall, not too enjoyable to be watched... Should be watched if you're all a big fan of Jake Gyllenhaal or Jennifer Aniston...

• Film C

  
  How could jen accept this role is was really stupidly crap movie and it wasnt the best role for jake either, i personnaly think the best character and redemming part was played by zooey deschanel who is fantastic and i love her but the movie is very much to be desired with a rubbish… More
  How could jen accept this role is was really stupidly crap movie and it wasnt the best role for jake either, i personnaly think the best character and redemming part was played by zooey deschanel who is fantastic and i love her but the movie is very much to be desired with a rubbish storyline and plot, its boring and not much going on and really not worth a watch!!

• Cassie H

  
  Not quite what I expected. This movie wasn't bad but it wasn't the best either. Jennifer Aniston has had better performances, but it was one movie. What made it really interesting was the psychotic character of Holden played be Jake Gyllenhaal. All in all if you want… More
  Not quite what I expected. This movie wasn't bad but it wasn't the best either. Jennifer Aniston has had better performances, but it was one movie. What made it really interesting was the psychotic character of Holden played be Jake Gyllenhaal. All in all if you want something bizzarre,yet different rent this movie.

• Randy T

  
  I know that this one received critical acclaim, and the performances from Gyllenhaal and John Reilly were quite good, but this just didn't work for me.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"It's her last best chance... is she going to take it?"</i> Jennifer Aniston stars as Justine, a woman who is feeling constrained by her life. Her husband, Phil (John C. Reilly), is a house painter who spends the majority of his time smoking marijuana… More
  <i>"It's her last best chance... is she going to take it?"</i> Jennifer Aniston stars as Justine, a woman who is feeling constrained by her life. Her husband, Phil (John C. Reilly), is a house painter who spends the majority of his time smoking marijuana with his friend Bubba (Tim Blake Nelson). Longing for something more in her life, Justine becomes involved with a younger co-worker named Tom (Jake Gyllenhall), but because of his fascination with The Catcher in the Rye, he likes to be called Holden. Her new sense of freedom and release are threatened when a co-worker dies, and when Bubba learns of her infidelity. <b><u>Review</u></b> I don't think I've ever been so amused and depressed by the same movie before. So much was made of Aniston's performance, and she is good, but she is just one player in a well cast film. In fact, she may have the easiest role in the film, as she is required to play most scenes devoid of expression or emotion. It is the situations that surround her that make the movie so funny, and much credit must be given to the supporting cast for making these situations seem so believable. But it is Aniston's sad character, sick of her surroundings and life, yet unwilling to change it, that makes for a depressing story. Even though there are plenty of laughs while watching the film, it will not leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling when it's done.

• Curtis L

  
  I normally hate jake gyllenhaal and jennifer aniston, but their hopeless and depressing characters were tolerable. Zooey Deschanel and John C. Reilly were the true charms of this movie, and I was wishing they were in it more the whole time. Still, not a bad film. Felt like another… More
  I normally hate jake gyllenhaal and jennifer aniston, but their hopeless and depressing characters were tolerable. Zooey Deschanel and John C. Reilly were the true charms of this movie, and I was wishing they were in it more the whole time. Still, not a bad film. Felt like another 'woman cheats on husband' film, but ends up being a good train wreck.

• Jason S

  
  Dark movie about a woman who thinks her life is going nowhere. Slow and sad at the end.

• danny d

  
  terrible flick with a fantastic cast, should have been great

• Michael G

  
  It was good, but you probably don't need to see it more than once. Aniston is suprisingly good in it.

• Nate Z

  
  [font=Arial][color=darkred]Jennifer Aniston, a 'Friends' favorite, has been getting attention for her less than attractive turn in adultery with 'The Good Girl'. However, the movie’s biggest flaw is Aniston herself. 'The Good Girl' can try and make her… More
  [font=Arial][color=darkred]Jennifer Aniston, a 'Friends' favorite, has been getting attention for her less than attractive turn in adultery with 'The Good Girl'. However, the movie’s biggest flaw is Aniston herself. 'The Good Girl' can try and make her look as disheveled as they can, and they can try and make her wear as much unflattering baggy clothing as possible but in the end we’re still watching Mrs. Brad Pitt groan about the purgatory that is Middle America. An actress of better caliber could likely pull off the rub, but alas, Aniston is not that actress.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Aniston narrates the disenchantment as Justine with her dead-end job working at a Wal-Mart-esque chain store and her dead-end marriage to perennially stoned house painter Phil (John C. Reilly). She longs for an escape and a change of pace from a grind where there appears none. Then one day a new teenage co-worker named Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal) comes into her life and seems to represent the danger and vitality Justine has felt missing in her life for so long. Her affections are at first stalled in apprehension, but soon Holden and Justine are ducking into motels and finding excuses to get busy in the stock room.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]But soon enough the honeymoon ends. Justine learns more distressing items about the emotionally dependant and unstable clerk, like his real name is Tom (“Tom is my slave name” he tells her). What once seemed exciting is now becoming more perilous to cover up.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]'The Good Girl' then descends into blacker territory with some unexpected turns, but also some more unbelievable moments. When confronted by Phil’s best friend Bubba (Tim Blake Nelson) about her infidelity she is given a rather unpleasant ultimatum that she gives in too way too easily. The longer the affair and messy cover up continues the more audience loyalties shift toward the victim, Phil. He admits he isn’t the smartest man or the best husband, but his feelings are authentic for his wife. And the more the audience views him the more they see that he truly does love Justine.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]And again, we have to come black to that road block labeled “Aniston.” A more accomplished actress could pull off this bittersweet role with aplomb and believability. A better actress could have slowed down the audience shift in loyalty away from her unfaithful protagonist. Aniston does give the performance of her career, and by that I mean she does okay.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]The supporting cast of 'The Good Girl' has a lot more bite to them. Gyllenhaal ('Donnie Darko') now seems to be an expert in the disturbed youth. Reilly starts off as a loaf but transforms into a sympathetic character that has his own touching moments of unannounced affection to Justine. Nelson gives the film some of its funniest moments along with the lethally deadpanned Zooey Deschanel. The lone stereotype in the bunch is played by Mike White (who wrote the film) as an overly enthusiastic Christian do-gooder.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]It’s a pity 'The Good Girl' has its anchor around the neck of Aniston and willing to go as far as she will take it, because 'The Good Girl' is indeed a good film with some wicked moments of comedy and a well-written story. It’s just that Aniston’s limitations gravitate what could have been 'The Great Girl'.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: B[/color][/font]

• Joey N

  
  Solid, if unspectacular. The whole point for this movie's existence seems to be to put Jen Aniston's acting chops to the test. She is pretty good, not great, like the film itself. The supporting actors are all solid. Pretty refreshing ending, actually. It's all… More
  Solid, if unspectacular. The whole point for this movie's existence seems to be to put Jen Aniston's acting chops to the test. She is pretty good, not great, like the film itself. The supporting actors are all solid. Pretty refreshing ending, actually. It's all pretty similar to the superior Waitress though (although this movie preceeds it).

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