didn't like this at all I didn't like 'the good girl' - it should have been titled, 'i use people for my own good.' Justine makes Tom/Holden think she's in love with him and wants to be with him and then suddenly decides she wants to go back to her husband. She knew up front Holden was disturbed and only pushed him over the edge anyway. She won in the end with the baby and her husband's forgiveness.
I only like some of the references and/or similarities to "Catcher in the Rye" and the movie felt a lot like the Cohen brothers film (which I love), but overall I was disappointed with it. Glad it was on TV for free.
Good Only Goes So Far Rachel Greene and Donnie Darko embark on an uneventful and somewhat bland adulterous affair between shifts at the local Wal-Mart in mid-Texas, USA.
With all apologies to people who work at Wal-Mart or live in mid-Texas, this backdrop alone depressed me even before I got a real chance to know the characters. And then the real lethargy settled in.
Rachel, in the pursuit of self-awareness, steadily descends a downward spiral, all for a good lesson learned. Donnie Darko is kind of mentally challenged or a burdgeoning psychopath. Some comic relief inspired by the overly zealous Christian security guard (who, when wished a Happy Halloween, replied "I'm not a pagan, but thanks just the same!"). Mostly, though, it's a tragic portrayal of the lives of people you would never want to know, let alone be.
The film is well-done. Well-acted, well-written, well-directed. But all that doesn't mean I have to like it. On the other hand, I didn't dislike it. It's just kind of there. It sneaks in little by little and leaves you kind of depressed and tired, similar to the feeling one gets after a few straight days of rain. All the hype it's received isn't realy worth it.
For a better movie on the bleak existence of American life, try "The Ice Storm", "Your Friends&Neighbors", or "The Door in the Floor". And for a better Rachel Greene movie, try "The Object of My Affection".
I could have done without this one.Not your typical 'Friends' vehicle Jennifer Aniston's movie career hasn't amounted to a hill of beans, mostly due to her inability to pick good roles. Here though, whether through the luck of a blind squirrel finding an acorn now and then or better career management, she's honed in on a great anti-'Friends' tonic with Mike White's finely-tuned script. [White also appears as Aniston's bible study-going buddy.]
The best thing to say about 'The Good Girl' is that it won't appeal to fans of Aniston's 'Rachel' persona. That's a 'go' signal for all of us fans of smaller, Independent Spirit-sized releases who would otherwise tend to lump an Aniston-led film into the category of "Friends vehicle. Won't see."
