- Actors: Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal, Deborah Rush, Mike White, John Carroll Lynch
- Directors: Miguel Arteta
- Writers: Mike White
- Producers: Carol Baum, Gina Kwon, Kirk D'Amico, Matthew Greenfield, Philip von Alvensleben
- Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Colour, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC, Widescreen
- Language English
- Subtitles: English, Spanish
- Region: Region 1 (US and Canada DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.85:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: R (Restricted) (US MPAA rating. See details.)
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- DVD Release Date: 7 Jan 2003
- Run Time: 93 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B0000797IO
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 93,487 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
In The Good Girl Jennifer Aniston gets a make-under that would make her Friends character weep, but she finally proves her acting mettle away from the ditzy-but-glamorous Rachel type. A low-key drama from the writer and director duo behind Chuck and Buck, The Good Girl places Aniston's bored shop-girl Justine at the centre of a soul-destroying life in a sleepy Texan town. Like a modern Madame Bovary, Justine's life is stuck in a rut--her marriage is dull and her job at the Retail Rodeo even duller--when a new colleague Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal) offers her an escape. A tortured soul who's obsessed with The Catcher in the Rye and thinks nobody understands him, Holden is a typical, angst-ridden young man. But to Justine he's intriguing and romantic and their shared sense of dejection soon leads to an affair and a short-lived liberation from their daily lives.
Aniston could never pass as dowdy but she does a very convincing turn as the crestfallen Justine, using subtlety and dry humour rather than melodrama to convey her quiet desperation. John C Reilly as her permanently stoned husband and Tim Blake Nelson as his creepy chum are both superb alongside her. Even the smaller roles are furnished with some memorable moments: Justine's colleague makes outrageous tannoy announcements to zombie-like customers at the Retail Rodeo. Funny, strange and touching by turns The Good Girl, has its awkward moments but as a quirky slice of life it gets most things right.
On the DVD: The Good Girl offers a feature-length commentary from director Miguel Arteta and writer Mike White that takes a while to get going but does provide some insight and humour. Aniston adds a scene-specific commentary that sadly does little to enhance the viewing of the film; short comments, some with massive pauses, offer little in the way of insight into her breakout performance. Deleted scenes with optional commentary and an alternate ending add a little more bulk where the gag reel (out-takes of the cast laughing) fails. It's not the package the film deserves. --Laura Bushell
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This film was hyped up for the Aniston-breaks-mould aspect, but it deserves much higher praise. The observational humour in this film really brings it to life: down to the individual customers in the shop, every character portrays a slice of life both funny and piercingly painful to watch. Jennifer Aniston's performance is tremendous and, as a viewer, you feel hugely empathetic as the hole Justine is digging keeps on getting deeper. The actors all know exactly how much to give to make this film ring true, and, at the very least, you will end your viewing thanking your lucky stars that you don't spend your days in a Retail Rodeo.
I love this film and all that it stands for in film-making, and I recommend it unreservedly. More like this, please.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I'll admit I was intrigued to see how well Jennifer Aniston could play it straight and she doesn't dissapoint.
The character of Justine acts in an unforgivable way towards both her husband (John C Reilly) and her lover (Jake Gyllenhaal) yet I found myself rooting for her. This is thanks to Aniston's amazing performance.
The film has a perfect cast both John C Reilly and Jake Gyllenhaal are brilliant and should have won awards for their performances. (I also quite fancied Jake Gyllenhaal in this film-if you like him then watch this film!)
It's hard to put this film into a genre as its funny but also tragic so it can't be described as either comedy or drama. I think the only way to describe it is unmissable.
The character of Justine acts in an unforgivable way towards both her husband (John C Reilly) and her lover (Jake Gyllenhaal) yet I found myself rooting for her. This is thanks to Aniston's amazing performance.
The film has a perfect cast both John C Reilly and Jake Gyllenhaal are brilliant and should have won awards for their performances. (I also quite fancied Jake Gyllenhaal in this film-if you like him then watch this film!)
It's hard to put this film into a genre as its funny but also tragic so it can't be described as either comedy or drama. I think the only way to describe it is unmissable.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I'm as skeptical as the next person when it comes the Jennifer Aniston's 'serious' acting career but I was pleasantly surprised with her performance. She played the role of struggling downtrodden housewife extremely well and the chemistry between her and Jake Gyllenhal (sp?) was impressive.
A sad and moving story about how life isn't always rainbows and butterflies. This is a very gritty drama about life's harsh realities.
You really do get attatched to the characters in this one, it is surprisingly good and definately worth a watch.
A sad and moving story about how life isn't always rainbows and butterflies. This is a very gritty drama about life's harsh realities.
You really do get attatched to the characters in this one, it is surprisingly good and definately worth a watch.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Jen An!
Excellent quality DVD, came as described, iv been looking for this film for years I love it! Soo funny and really deeply touching, xx
Published 7 months ago by Pebbles_19
Funny? Not many laughs in this movie but it's still worth watching
I bought this movie as part of an excellent value box set, "The Jennifer Aniston collection". I had no idea that she had made so many films. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Camilla Macaulay
Underplayed perfectly!
This is the type of film I come away from, longing and wishing that more writers/directors 'got' movie making this well. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Billy
Smart comedy/drama with strong performances
An intelligent, well acted, sometimes funny, sometimes sad
look at the dead end reality of small town US life. Read more
look at the dead end reality of small town US life. Read more
Published 12 months ago by K. Gordon
Unrealistic pap!
2003s 'The Good Girl' was a prequel of sorts to the cult smash of 2001 'Donnie Dorko'. Taking place in an alternative parallel reality to Donnie Dorko, we find Donnie working at... Read more
Published 17 months ago by cage-o-holic-teenybigAbopper
Aniston's Best?
Simply put. I thought it was fine, if not excellent. Totally unexpected, this is not a "seriously funny" film as the cover declares. Read more
Published on 25 Mar 2010 by Callum Doone
Fantastic!!
Having just discovered Jake Gyllenhaal as an actor I was keen to watch this movie. I was also very interested to see Jennifer Aniston's transition to serious acting, and I have to... Read more
Published on 31 July 2009 by Jodie Perry
Not Seriously Funny but Seriously Laughable!
I thought this film was a complete joke rather than a comedy. I have three main points that really frustrated me throughout having to sit through this awful piece of middle of the... Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2008 by T. M. Fuller
Good Movie
The Good Girl is a relatively good movie, with its dark comedy and reality affair. However I believe the check out girl played by Zooey Deschanel stole the show.
Published on 26 Dec 2008 by Fallen Legend
Umm, Not quite what I was expecting...
First of all I'm a huge fan of Jennifer Aniston and personally thought she was great in this movie. It was a bit weird trying to adjust to her not being Rachel Green, but she's a... Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2008 by G. Spencer
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