The Good Girl (The Good Girl (DVD))

Member Name: StrongSide

Product:	The Good Girl (DVD)
Date:	27/07/09 (9 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very good cast, subtle comedy

Disadvantages: Holden is a little annoying

The Good Girl is definitely not my usual type of movie but after noticing all the big names it modestly contains, I decided to give it a try. The film is a drama starring Jennifer Anniston as Justine Last; a depressed and unmotivated Retail Rodeo worker who's married to her clueless husband (John C. Reilly). He's more interested in his best friend "Bubba" (Tim Blake Nelson) and getting stoned and Justine ends up having an affair with a troubled and new co-worker, who names himself "Holden" after the character from Catcher of the Rye. There are further sub-plots but I don't want to spoil anything.

For some reason, this movie keeps being tagged as a comedy... but it really isn't. The DVD front cover says "Seriously funny" which isn't true to be honest. There is some black comedy and Zooey Deschanel is great as a careless co-worker, subtly breaking every rule of Retail Rodeo in a humorous manner. I think she will have a very good career and proved herself in Yes Man with an excellent performance. However, it falls very comfortably into the drama genre.

Aniston is the real star and leads the film very well. Her accent was hard to get used to at first after watching Friends for years and recently seeing The Break-Up but she sounded natural and gives a true impression of her character. I personally find Gyllenhaal a little annoying and the weakest part of the movie for me was that they created a "misunderstood", depressed and hateful kid out of nothing. His parents are seen to be emotionless and uncaring but that wouldn't lead to how Holden is. His little stories he writes, all copied from Catcher of the Rye, are silly and childish and I found it difficult to believe why Justine would take him seriously. It seemed a little forced.

Apart from that, it was pretty enjoyable. The cast held it together very well and the ending was satisfying without answering too much. If you like dramas, you'll definitely like this and if you don't usually go for this... well neither do I...

Summary: Give it a try