Rated: R
Running Time: 1:33
Tabitha's Rating: ****.5/5
Synopsis: A woman trapped in a dead end town, a dead end job, and a dead end pot head husband has an affair with a younger, disturbed man.
Most independent films begin in New York and Los Angeles. The best of these go to the one screen independent film theaters in the nation's second largest cities. In Orlando, we have the Enzian. Next, the best of these independents make it to that little 6 screen, no stadium seating theatre off of colonial drive. Finally, the ones that get the most attention and best reviews make it to the big time: The 20 screen stadium seating theatres. That is where I finally got to watch The Good Girl, and it deserved to be there unquestionably. (Ironically there are plenty of crappy big budget movies who get there right away).
We are introduced to Justine's (Jennifer Aniston) hum drum life immediately. Every day, she goes to work at Retail Rodeo, a miniature version of Wal-Mart, so more like an old K-Mart where she is a cashier at the Cosmetic counter. Then, she comes home every day to find her husband and his best friend stoned and sitting on her couch in paint covered pants. You can easily relate to how she must feel by the droopy expression on her face, her heavy, depressed walk, and her just accented enough tone of voice: trapped. When she meets Holden, a man 8 years her junior, the new cashier at work, she sees something about herself mirrored in his "eyes that droop at the corners". Eventually, giving him a ride home from work becomes riding him at a local motel. Meanwhile, her cluelessly high husband (John C. Reilly) sits at home. Although he is quite dense, his love for Justine is obvious. At one point, she explodes because the television is getting a really bad reception. The next day, while she is at the hotel with Holden, he is at home fixing the television for her. She never even notices.
At first, her affair with Holden is fun and exciting in her dull life. "I like havin a secret", she says in that Texas voice. But as always happens when good girls do bad things, complications soon arise. Holden is much more intense than she had ever imagined, and of course, someone had to find out about the pair's adultery.
At the end, Justine must make a choice. Will she journey through that "beautiful nothingness" that is escape and the freedom and to go anywhere with Holden, or she can choose to continue her life with her husband and Retail Rodeo and live the same day over and over again as she has for years. This was the only aspect of the movie that I did not like. In fact, I left the theatre pissed at her choice. I would have had her take the third option, that she apparently didn't even see. She's been in that tiny tiny town for way too long.
The main reason I wanted to see this movie, before I even saw a preview on television for it, was the buzz behind Jennifer Aniston's performance. I got so excited about seeing my favorite Friend expand her roles to incorporate something that was completely not Rachel, I was afraid I would end up disappointed, as often happens when you work yourself up so much about a movie. But that was not the case at all. Not once did I look at Justine, and see Rachel. Not even the shadow of Rachel. She was 100% Justine of Retail Rodeo, not Rachel of Ralph Lauren. John Reilly played the part of the betrayed pothead husband to a tee. In fact, all the performances in this film were terrific.
So far, I have made the movie out to be a total drama. But that's what is so great about this movie, it has some awesome humor thrown in. Sorry real life potheads, there's no Tom Green style cow jokes (Freddy Got Fingered). The humor in this movie is more Clerks style. We already know Jennifer Aniston can be funny from Friends, but she proves she can also do a completely different kind of comedy as well. (I would call the humor in this movie, dark comedy). The antics of a fellow cashier played by Zooey Deschanel (the sister who runs away to be a stewardess on Almost Famous) are downright hilarious. "Fuck you and have a nice day" she says to one customer politely. I was quite literally laughing out loud, and so was the rest of the audience, several times throughout the film.
Bottomline: There's a reason The Good Girl is now playing at the big theatres...don't miss it!!!
