REVIEW: The Good Girl (2002)
The Good Girl
Rated: R
Runtime: 93 minutes
Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal, Zooey Deschanel
My rating: 4.5 stars
Your Rating (Click stars to rate):
It is refreshing to see a comedy rely on subtlety instead of crassness to be funny. Over the past few years audiences have been bombarded with crude, toilet humor with f-words littered throughout. The Good Girl has a great script, great performances, situational humor and clean dialog. It's rated R only for a few sex scenes and smoking, no language.
The movie opens on a slow zoom into the Retail Rodeo store with Justine (Jennifer Aniston) narrating about her life. She says that girls look at the world as if it was a giant candy store, but then that candy store turns into a prison where you want to run away. We are in for a treat.
Justine works in the store and is married to a pot-smoking house painter (John C. Reilly). She's 30-years-old, trapped, but too afraid to leave. Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal) starts working at the store and meets Justine on his second day. He's 22-years-old, sullen and dreams of becoming a famous writer like his hero J.D. Salinger.
We meet him as he's reading Catcher in the Rye. He tells Justine he's named after the main character. “What's your name, Catcher?” she asks. Brilliant. It immediately tells us the type of humor we are going to see the rest of the film. We later learn that Holden named himself after the main character, and his real name is Tom. Those who have read the book needn't know anything more about Holden's personality in the film. He is Holden Caulfield of Catcher in the Rye.
Justine and Holden grow close, bonding over their miserable lives and job, and he begins to obsess over her. She wants a way out of the store and from her husband. She wants a baby, which her husband cannot provide her since all the pot he smokes rendered him sterile. Eventually Justine and Holden start an affair, and all hell breaks loose when Holden keeps suggesting they run away together.
Perhaps the greatest joy of this film is the acting. Aniston, who we've seen play mostly ditsy waitresses or the clueless counterpart to the male lead, drives this film, creating a character who is in control of her relationships, but not her emotions. She doesn't like hurting people, but we all know that can't happen. She's a liar, a cheat and will do anything to protect herself first. She leaves destruction in her wake, and only thinks about the consequences of her actions after they've happened.
Zooey Deschanel plays Cheryl, a fellow Retail Rodeo employee. Cheryl may hate the job, but she has a lot of fun doing it. She first spouts sarcastic puns into the store's P.A. system. Then, she's transferred to the cosmetics desk and makes all the women coming in for makeovers look like clowns. She tells them it's all the rage in France. Cheryl isn't a major player, but does what Justine can't – not care about anything.
And the best of all the actors is Gyllenhaal. He plays Holden perfectly, creating a melancholy, slightly psychotic, obsessive man. Justine calls Holden at one point “At best a child and at worst mentally ill.” That's exactly what I was thinking. His transformation from a reserved, mysterious colleague to lover and then something else (I'd tell you, but it's more fun to let it happen in the movie) is hilarious, impressive and sensational. Gyllenhaal has the perfect look for the part, and he shows his versatility as an actor in this role.
The Good Girl does two things: (1) Creates an ensemble of characters we believe could actually exist and (2) shows us what happens when these people think there's only one resolution to life's obstacles.
It is funny, quick, smart and easy to watch. It's a truly great comedy filled with exceptional acting and great writing. 4.5 stars.
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