Genre: Comedy / Drama
Length: 1h 33m 13s
Director: Miguel Arteta
Tagline: It's her last best chance... is she going to take it?
Plot outline: The plot revolves around a young married woman whose mundane life takes a turn for the worse when she strikes up a passionate and illicit affair with an oddball discount-store stock boy who thinks he's Holden Caulfield. Summary written by Elena Pérez
Comment: About five minutes in, I thought thank goodness we've seen all the trailers already. One of the great crimes of the twenty-first century is the marketing dolts tendency to tell the entire story of a film in the trailers. One of the more blatant examples in recent memory is Swimfan. The trailers tell us of a swimming phenom seduced by the new girl in school who, when rejected, slips swim phenom steroids in his vitamins. Swim phenom is kicked off the team and swimfan pursues relentlessly, eventually running his girlfriend off the road and then dumping her, confined to a wheelchair into the pool to be saved by swim phenom. So, if you want to know what happens in the last ten minutes of Swimfan, buy a ticket and go. The Good Girl trailers are all consumed in the first five minutes. The reason for this may not be an awakening on the part of studio salesmen, though, as the trailers are almost all funny quips and The Good Girl, while very funny at times, is much more than a comedy. Jennifer Aniston (Justine Last) demonstrates a depth of talent heretofore unsuspected. Charismatic, cute, and comedic have all surfaced in Friends, but when we see her walking across the Retail Rodeo floor as if gravity won't allow her feet to do anything but shuffle and her shoulders only stoop, we are awakened to a phenomenal talent. Her portrayal of a plain Texas Jane with dying dreams is letter perfect. Her husband Phil (John C. Reilly) and his buddy bubba (Tim Blake Nelson) are housepainters by day and potheads by night. Her days are spent at the Retail Rodeo, a small town five-and-dime populated by a bizarre cast of characters. Cheryl (Zooey Deschanel) gets booted from blue-light special announcer to cosmetics assistant when she gets a little too creative on the PA. She is delightful as a gothic wannabe. The new cashier, Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal, Catherine Keener's love interest in Lovely & Amazing and the soon to be released Moonlight Mile) catches Justine's eye and The Good Girl makes a ninety-degree from her miserable life. This is a small town, though, and their secret won't be long kept. Aniston's performance compels us to accompany her as The Good Girl turns dark and dangerous. Director Miguel Arteta controls the descent, though, and punctuates with humor. This is a powerful story told in profound performances topped by a surprising Jennifer Aniston.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
Country: USA
Language:
Subtitels: No ()
DVDs: 1
IMDB address
| Actors: | ||
| Jennifer Aniston | as | Justine Last |
| Zooey Deschanel | as | Cheryl |
| Jake Gyllenhaal | as | Holden Worther |
| John Carroll Lynch | as | Jack Field |