The Good Girl Cinema

Paul Greenwood reviews

The Good Girl

• Cert:
• Running time: 93 minutes
• Year: 2002
• Released: 10th January 2003
• Widescreen Ratio: 1.85:1
• Rating: 6/10

Director:

Miguel Arteta

(Chuck & Buck)

Cast:

Justine Last: Jennifer Aniston
Phil Last: John C Reilly
Holden: Jake Gyllenhaal
Bubba: Tim Blake Nelson
Gwen: Deborah Rush
Corny: Mike White
Jack Field: John Carroll Lynch
Cheryl: Zooey Deschanel

I was watching Band of Brothers on DVD the other night and it struck me that, while David Schwimmer may be avery good actor, not for one second could I take him seriously in a straightrole, so ingrained is his persona as Ross in Friends. He was playing a hard-nosed captain at a boot camp and his role involved a lot of yelling atrecruits in order to make them run up a hill. I kept expecting him to shoutout at any moment, “My sandwich? You ate MMYYYY sandwich?” or“We were on a break” (apologies if you don’t watch Friends).

The point I’m trying to get to in a very round about and not particularlysuccessful way is that the cast members of Friends have had mixed fortuneswhen it comes to outside projects. Matt Le Blanc was entirely the best thingabout the woefulLost in Spaceand Matthew Perry raised a chuckle in The Whole Nine Yards by basicallyplaying Chandler. On the whole, the girls have done a bit better – Lisa Kudrowgot acclaim forThe Opposite of Sexand Courtney Cox hit the jackpot with the Scream films. Which brings meneatly to Jennifer Aniston, a film of whose I hadn’t seen untilThe Good Girl.

There’s been quite a bit of buzz recently about the possibility of Anistongetting an Oscar nomination for her work here, and it would probably be justabout deserved if she did. She plays Justine, 30 years old and trapped. Trappedin her job at a surreally awful supermarket, trapped in her marriage to apothead waster husband, and trapped in the small Texas town in which she lives.

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At work she meets misunderstood aspiring writer Tom, who calls himself Holdenafter Catcher in the Rye and, against her better judgement, begins anaffair with the intense younger man. Meanwhile at home, husband Phil sitsaround all day smoking dope with his friend Bubba, in between the occasionalpainting job. This set-up leads to a passable comedy drama of frustration,jealousy, blackmail and sperm samples.

The Good Girl’s biggest weakness is that it’s far more in control withthe funny stuff than it is with the meat of the central plot. The bizarrestaff of the supermarket are hilarious, as are Phil and Bubba’s Beavis andButthead routines on the couch, along with a host of nicely characterdriven and visual humour.

But Justine’s motivations are unclear and her actions are misjudged. Holden isclearly disturbed and it takes her far too long to realise. We’re basicallydealing with a collection of mainly dim, mainly unsympathetic people andthere’s only so far that their story can engage us. As mentioned, Aniston isgood, and her Southern accent helps her only occasionally have to resort toRachelisms. Reilly and Nelson are two of the best character actors around andboth are worth watching. And Jake Gyllenhaal, who takes hisDonnie Darkoact to the next level of weirdness, is fine as the nutter trapped in the bodyof a tortured genius.

Review copyright © Paul Greenwood, 2003.E-mail Paul Greenwood

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