The Good Girl - 08/11/02

Ordinary People did this, and succeeded in showing the world a side of life that was unseen to most. American Beauty did this in a more atmospheric way, showing us how we hide things not only from the people who love us, but from ourselves as well. Though a little overrated, a smart movie.

This film - jeez, I'm not even sure where to begin. Ok, here. I didn't hate it. But The Good Girl has no underlying point - there is a plot - but there is no point to this film.

I have enjoyed Jennifer Aniston's work in other movies, like Office Space, The Iron Giant and, of course, her work on Friends. But the public has a very definite idea of Aniston, and her role as a backwater woman turned 30, stuck in a deadend job and hating her life and her marriage and her place in the world... well, I didn't see this film because Jennifer Aniston was in it. Acting well is one thing, which she did. But playing a role and making it your own is something entirely different - and I just did not see Aniston as Justine Last.

Michael White (who also acted in the film) has written episodes of Dawson's Creek, Dead Man on Campus, Freaks and Geeks, Chuck&Buck (also directed by Miguel Arteta), Pasadena, and this year's Jack Black release of Orange County.

I haven't seen much of that - in fact, I haven't seen any of that work. After having seen The Good Girl, I don't think I will go and seek out Michael White material. I was impressed with the dialog, and I was impressed during a number of scenes, and the way voice-overs were dealt with... but the story was pointless. Plot points and characters, situations that should have resulted in a much larger conclusion... it all fell short - and the last ten minutes were a complete washout. A disappointment.

John C. Reilly is one of the better actors of the last ten years. I've loved him in everything he's done, especially all of the acting he's done in each of the PT Anderson films - Hard Eight, Boogie Nights and Magnolia. He's shown incredible range in those films, along with For Love of the Game, The Thin Red Line, Never Been Kissed, The Perfect Storm (which was a terrible film)... I'm dying to see him in Scorsese's next piece Gangs of New York. I was sad to find that he wasn't going to be acting in Anderson's newest film, Punch Drunk Love... maybe the next one.

Jake Gyllenhaal's first role was in City Slickers in 1991. But he has held his own over the last year or so with Donnie Darko, Lovely & Amazing and October Sky. He also starred in Bubble Boy, but we won't go into that.

I dug his performance in this film. He did a good job to offset Aniston's presence (meaning that he subdued her 'Friends' persona, to the point that I was able to watch her and not think 'Friends' the entire time), and played the tortured 20 year to a T. I'm looking forward to seeing him in the Roland Emmerich film The Day After Tomorrow, in 2003.

Even though the script wasn't too well done, Mike White did a fine job with his character. Deborah Rush and Zooey Deschanel both did well in their respective roles - adding a great atmosphere with their characters.

John Carroll Lynch was very good in his role, and Tim Blake Nelson... well, I didn't much like his character. His character was about as cliched as they come, and though his performance was good... I think that it hindered him more than helped him. His character was too obvious - and the character was written in a very ham-handed way.

This film has some very good moments - but I think that entertaining people with a script that reduces the last hour and a half to a big question mark is not a good way to build up an audience. Again, the dialog of the film was quite fresh and entertaining, but the ending was not worth it.

I would not recommend seeing this in the theaters - wait to rent it.