In association with

Good Girl, The [2003]
from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
starring Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal, Deborah Rush, Mike White, John Carroll Lynch
directed by Miguel Arteta

Features:

• Anamorphic
• PAL
• Widescreen

Editorial Review:

In The Good Girl Jennifer Aniston gets a make-under that would make her Friends character weep, but she finally proves her acting mettle away from the ditzy-but-glamorous Rachel type. A low-key drama from the writer and director duo behind Chuck and Buck, The Good Girl places Aniston's bored shop-girl Justine at the centre of a soul-destroying life in a sleepy Texan town. Like a modern Madame Bovary, Justine's life is stuck in a rut--her marriage is dull and her job at the Retail Rodeo even duller--when a new colleague Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal) offers her an escape. A tortured soul who's obsessed with The Catcher in the Rye and thinks nobody understands him, Holden is a typical, angst-ridden young man. But to Justine he's intriguing and romantic and their shared sense of dejection soon leads to an affair and a short-lived liberation from their daily lives.

Aniston could never pass as dowdy but she does a very convincing turn as the crestfallen Justine, using subtlety and dry humour rather than melodrama to convey her quiet desperation. John C Reilly as her permanently stoned husband and Tim Blake Nelson as his creepy chum are both superb alongside her. Even the smaller roles are furnished with some memorable moments: Justine's colleague makes outrageous tannoy announcements to zombie-like customers at the Retail Rodeo. Funny, strange and touching by turns The Good Girl, has its awkward moments but as a quirky slice of life it gets most things right.

On the DVD: The Good Girl offers a feature-length commentary from director Miguel Arteta and writer Mike White that takes a while to get going but does provide some insight and humour. Aniston adds a scene-specific commentary that sadly does little to enhance the viewing of the film; short comments, some with massive pauses, offer little in the way of insight into her breakout performance. Deleted scenes with optional commentary and an alternate ending add a little more bulk where the gag reel (out-takes of the cast laughing) fails. It's not the package the film deserves. --Laura Bushell

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

• Umm, Not quite what I was expecting...
  First of all I'm a huge fan of Jennifer Aniston and personally thought she was great in this movie. It was a bit weird trying to adjust to her not being Rachel Green, but she's a great actress and it didn't take long.
  The film itself, despite being in the Comedy section and having 'Seriously Funny' on the DVD cover contains suprising few laughs. It it quite a serious film and it's certainly not the sort of comedy i was expecting, but when it's funny, it's funny! Look out in particular for Cheryl,... more info

• Good story told well
  The soft white underbelly of McJob any town is an unusual choice for the nominally over fluffed and over excited Aniston, so good for her for choosing it and she does a good job as the central character in the tale of contemporary small town America. . Her performance stands out against average supporting cast performances or perhaps it is because the story is really just about her character and there is not much room for anyone else. Very enjoyable and a little offbeat.

• A comedy with real depth
  This film suprised me like it did so many other people. Jennifer Aniston in her role as Justine is stunning and, after the first 15 minutes I firmly forgot about Rachel.
  I love the entire cast here. All of them deliver a shining performance in their roles and all support the leads very well. As always Jake Gyllenhaal and John C. Reilly provide typically excellent performances as the disturbed lover and 'faithful hound' husband.
  It was advertised as 'seriously funny' which I think is a mistake, as... more info

• Jennifer Aniston is the star of this film
  The true genius behind this film is the amazing job Jennifer Aniston does in making us believe how pintless and boring her characters life is, married to a man who does nothing but smoke pot with his inane friend. After she starts her affair with holden you almost want her to make it work because you cant believe that the meaningless existance she has with her husband would be enough for anybody you want her to have more and to experience life. The only reason i do not give it 5 stars is because of what i... more info

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