The Good Girl Review
by Karina Montgomery (karina AT cinerina DOT com)August 16th, 2002
Good Girl, The
Matinee & snack
It's difficult to describe this movie without giving too much away, but what I will say is that the marketing for the film is not really all that accurate. Jennifer Aniston plays Justine, an unhappy woman working at the Retail Rodeo, watching her life slip through her fingers and bubbling dissatisfaction brewing always. Her coworkers at the Rodeo cope with their boredom in different ways, many of which come into play in the film. Enter new young employee Holden, (Jake Gyllenhaal) reading Catcher in the Rye and generally coming across as tortured young person who has not lived his life yet, but can't wait to. One thing leads to another, and their lives become complexly intertwined with each other, with Justine's husband Phil (the always great John C. Reilly) and his buddy Bubba (Tim Blake Nelson, from O Brother Where Art Thou), and with other people as well.
Justine's character is led into some interesting choices, interesting quandaries, and interesting moments, all of which you can feel in your gut as she tries to work out what she must do. She is a good girl, but more than that, she is an unhappy girl, and the two sides of her must do battle and somehow allow her to survive.
Gyllenhaal is about to come out in two more movies any day now, and he made his debut in Johnnie Darko. I regret not having seen that, for I have heard it is wonderful. This being my first Gyllenhaal movie (he has great taste in projects looking at his resume so far) I am prepared to be a big fan. As a 22 year old self-tortured writer and dreamer, Holden's character could easily slip into crazy or too-sweet or mystic or what have you. Instead, he, as well as Phil and Bubba, constantly act just to the side of what you expect. A moment turns on a dime, and poor Justine is there trying to work out the new rules. I really enjoyed how unpredictable it was, at least to me, and my companion.
Two blue-eyed go-nowheres find each other in the dark and try to find a direction - self-respect or other-respect, or self-preservation? What our actions mean to others may not be what we intended or what we meant them to be for ourselves. Choose no life, or too much life? The old saw about going to see ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances is too grand for this story - most of these things happen all the time, but it is the quiet, personal road we follow within that makes the choices and results so fascinating on screen. See, I can't describe this without spoiling it! The narrative tension is carefully maintained so the contrast of her boring job and her tense choices really sings.
The sweet folksy soundtrack was unobtrusive but just set the right mood always, sad, tender, pure, and driving. I intend to purchase it soon. In the meantime, reward the studio for making an intelligent film about intelligent persons in sad circumstances that keeps you engaged.
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These reviews (c) 2002 Karina Montgomery. Please feel free to forward but just credit the reviewer in the text. Thanks.
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