TNMC
This site’s design is only visible in a graphical browser that supports web standards, but its content is accessible to any browser or Internet device.
The Good Girl (2002)
The Good Girl is the kind of movie we rarely see, the one that is uncomfortably close to reality. I say uncomfortable because it rings true and few people will find comfort in the knowledge that life can spin so wildly out of control so quickly. Writer Mike White and diector Miguel Arteta seem to specialize in uncomfortable. Their last film, Chuck & Buck made uncomfortable an art form with an excessively creepy character/performance from White. The Good Girl doesn't attempt to approach that level of creepiness, preferring instead to focus on the horrors of everyday life.
Jennifer Aniston stars as Justine, which is noteworthy in that the character and her performance are both about as far from her Friends character as can be imagined. This is not the sexy plucky Rachel but instead a grim depressed woman living in small town Texas. Successful TV actors often struggle to escape from a single character they've come to define. Aniston sets herself apart from the pack with a performance that is effortlessly convincing, without in any way reminding us of her past work.
Justine works in a cut rate department store called Retail Rodeo. She works the cosmetics counter and hates the job, along with all her co-workers. She finds no comfort at home either where her husband Phil (John C. Reilly) spends his evenings smoking pot on the couch with his best friend Bubba (Tim Blake Nelson). She feels trapped by the dull routine nature of life. Nothing ever changes and it makes her feel like she's in prison.
This all changes when she becomes fascinated by a new clerk. She introduces herself to him while he's reading Catcher in the Rye and he says his name is Holden. Pretty soon the two are having a torrid affair. Justine feels happy for the first time in a long time. It doesn't take her long though to realize that Holden (actual name Tom) is fairly disturbed and that he will eventually represent yet another emotional prison for her.
What I liked most about the film is the way that the decision to start the affair kicks off a long string of events of a startling nature. Justine tries to make her life a little better and instead causes chaos in every aspect of her life, most of which could never have been predicted. When we finally reach the end, Justine has to make a big decision, and the great surprise is that she makes the logical one instead of the artificial Hollywood ending decision.
With their first two films, White and Arteta have established themselves as a team to take notice of. These films show a great eye to the things that people would rather not have in their lives and then find a way to make a story out of it. They find a great balance of comedy without going over the edge into silly. These films hold to just this side of reality which gives them real weight and honesty. That's a rare gift and should be highly encouraged.
What do you think? Talk about it on the Forums
