The Good Girl
2002, US, Directed by Miguel Arteza
Colour, Running Time: 89 minutes
DVD, Region 2, Fox, Video: Anamorphic 1.85:1, Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Justine is a thirty year old woman gradually losing her interest in life. She works in a local retail store surrounded by people who appear to be blissfully (or otherwise) ignorant of the perpetually meaningless nature of their mundane existences, while at home her husband is equally unaware of her discontent with their marriage as they unsuccessfully try for offspring and maintain the semblance of normal domesticity. A light seems to be projected into her waning life when a nerdy young man joins the store to work on the tills. Budding writer Holden is similarly disenchanted with the world, this being reflected in his work where he depicts characters based on himself and those around him in hopeless situations. Finding someone who is able to empathise with her snowballing cynicism the reluctant Justine embarks upon an affair with the younger man but fails to foresee the obsession that grows within him, an indicator that his grip on mental balance is not entirely rigid. But one thing that Holden does seem to be able to provide is unpredictability, an invaluable asset in a world that presents only commonplace experiences. How far is she able to progress with the amoral life of a bored adulteress and would it ever be possible to experience fulfilment with a husband that may just be a pot-smoking slob?
Combining comedy elements (though leaning towards black humour) with romance and metaphysical drama, The Good Girl does not end up going in the direction that you might expect. It adopts the attitude of an independent film taking on the analysis of everyday life and does a very good job of it. Playing Justine, Jennifer Aniston demonstrates her skill and flexibility as an actress - I mean, it’s always been evident in Friends, and I have no love for that show, but it takes daring excursions such as this to really show people what she’s made of. She doesn’t even look supremely attractive in this film; simply ordinary. Justine is an ‘everyman’ (is that term applicable to females too?), a person whose existence is directionless (other than following the same path of working and spawning paved by billions before her), someone who finally realises that to take a risk might break her free of the reigns which have entangled themselves around her. Her immoral behaviour is a derivative of her crumbling zest, but does that make it acceptable? Understandable certainly, but questions arise regarding the moral intentions of the writers (perhaps they’re merely reflecting a reality of life rather than passing judgement on it). The outcome of the story certainly embellishes these questions for me and a level of ambiguity results from the conclusion - I have a few theories on where they were coming from/going but to outline them here would be to spoil the first time viewings of others. Convincingly portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal, the Holden character is not the ray of light he first appears to be, rather a person ruined by unexplained circumstances. He presents an element of mystery that initially intrigues Justine, but ultimately may be too dangerous to associate herself with. Justine’s husband too is not what he first may appear and it might be that we’re seeing a reflection of the world through Justine’s eyes more than anything. The acoustic soundtrack is a perfect accompaniment to the reflections of an almost amusingly melancholic existence and reminds me of the music composed for The Straight Story. Coming from 20th Century Fox, this is a rare treat.
The DVD comes with a very naturally contrasted and coloured transfer as well as an audio track that rarely leaves the front speakers, overall looking and sounding very nice. Aniston provides a mini-commentary (about quarter of an hour of scene specific observations) while the director and writer give us the full monty. There’s the pointlessly indulgent gag reel featuring the actors laughing at their own cock-ups (something that hopefully should have disappeared thanks to Pixar spoofing the ‘phenomenon’ on a number of their animated film extras), as well as some unused scenes and a limited alternative ending that could have done with some explanation. Generally though, a reasonable disc. The cover is unfortunately emblazoned with one of Empire’s typically insightful comments (‘seriously funny’) which may help find the film the wrong audience, but slightly daring, offbeat films like this from Hollywood are always a welcome surprise.