The Good Girl (2002)

Redundant and unnecessary.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

In peak Jennifer Aniston era, The Good Girl is an under the radar romantic drama that borders on obscurity and dour, though the performances are enough to keep the film afloat. However, even after watching the film I can't say I see myself agreeing with some of the plot decisions the film made and thus never fully connected with the story. The two leads, Aniston and Jake Gyllenhaal, give fine performances as two people who are "put upon" by the world and can't seem to find their way. On that note, I'm not sure if with different leads this film this film could have been any better, but I found myself wanting a whole lot more emotionally from this film.5.7/10

Wow!!!!! I'm shocked to see people calling "Cake" her only good and Oscar worthy performance.This movie was beautiful. Jake Gyllenhaal was very good as well. I read "The Catcher in the Rye" before watching this movie in order to be able to absolutely feel it, for I am an Aniston fan and also read some good reviews about this movie; and man that was a good decision. Any of us would feel separated from the world and everyone close to us from time to time; I guess Justine was one of us. An ordinary person with an ordinary boredom of life, so when she met Holden, well he was right for that short time, before she got pregnant and felt kinda alright again like many of us do, when slight changes happens in our lives. Holden, on the other hand, I don't think he would have ever been happy even if she had left with him and eventually all that anger and loneliness would have burst out one way or the other.Now Jennifer did a swell job here, and I know this movie came out when she was still doing Friends alongside loads and loads of romantic comedies, so it's even more underrated and especially when Renée Zellweger got so much attention for that not-so-bright comedy "Bridget Jones".Approach this with cautious, this is Not a typical Aniston comedy. Heck it's not even a comedy, just pitch black.

Mostly memorable for Jennifer Aniston's lead performance, 'The Good Girl' offers the Golden Globe actress perhaps her finest acting hour, cast here as an unhappily married store clerk who sees life passing her by. The promise of something new, exciting and different comes in the form of a much younger coworker who fancies her, but is there really a possible 'happily ever after' scenario for them? And does she really love him or simply what he represents with his championing of 'The Catcher in the Rye' and ramblings about defying social norms? Their affair eventually leads to a fork in the road in which Aniston is forced to make a choice and her decision, while perplexing at first, seems simply inevitable in retrospect. The film is well acted by not only Aniston, but also a stellar supporting cast including Jake Gyllenhaal, Zooey Deschanel, 'Zodiac''s John Carroll Lynch, John C. Reilly and Tim Blake Nelson, and yet, the film does not quite have the same effect upon revision. The script relies heavily on elements of surprise for impact and none of the twists (other than Aniston's choice at end) have that much power once one knows they are coming. The philosophical voice over narration also seems to spell about a bit too much, especially concerning Nelson's character, upon revision. Aniston's internal strife resonates either way though, and her down-to-earth performance ensures that the film is engaging the whole through. 'The Good Girl' might not be a flawless film, however, if nothing else it will make you think twice before eating blackberries again!

Well this ended up being better than I was expecting as it wasn't the usual Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy (which all tend to blend together). Aniston is still another version of Rachael Green just more bored and depressed here. She does put on a great southern accent though, and outdoes herself in the wardrobe department, donning ugly sweaters and unflattering mom jeans throughout.The movie is plugged as a comedy but honestly its fairly depressing, just kinda miserable and cheerless throughout following 'Justine' a frustrated 30 year old wife and grocery store cashier who is bored, depressed, stuck in a dead end job and married to a stoner (John C. Reilly). Her life changes when she begins an affair with a co-worker, (Jake Gyllenhaal). The story didn't at all go where I was expecting it to, entering some very dark areas.Gyllenhaal does a great job here, he is young, intense and crazy. I also enjoyed John C. Reilly, as the husband, he's always the "nice guy" and is here too. Zooey Deschanel's character was very funny and probably the only ray of light in this. Lots of decent acting from sub characters though including John Carroll Lynch as the manager of the Retail Rodeo grocery store -which is where much of this movie takes place, the boredom and mundaneness was well represented there.A bit of a surprise hit for me. 7/5/15