“The Good Girl”
Review by Bonnie Spinola
Although this admission will probably raise the ire of some of the other geeks, I never saw what the big fuss was about Jennifer Aniston apart from her All-American good looks. I didn’t get the whole “Friends” phenomenon (it was just the show that came on before my beloved “Seinfeld”), and when I did catch an episode, I thought the acting was mediocre at best. So it was with trepidation that I ventured to see “The Good Girl.”
“The Good Girl” centers around Justine (Aniston), a 30-year-old small-town Texas woman who becomes increasingly disenchanted with her boring, dead-end job at Retail Rodeo, a cross between a Big Lots and a ghetto Woolworth’s. She also begins to question the foundation of her marriage. Her husband, Phil, is a good-natured redneck who paints houses by day and smokes copious amounts of pot by night with his fellow painter and best buddy, Bubba. One day a 22-year-old Tobey Maguire look-alike named Holden (yes, after that Holden) joins the RR staff, and Justine’s life is turned upside down. I don’t want to give any more of the plot twists and turns away, but heartbreak and hilarity ensue in often surprising ways.
I thoroughly enjoyed “The Good Girl.” It’s quite funny in many places and suitably serious in others, which is necessary considering the fact that the subject of adultery is at the heart of the film. There is a tangible sense of realism that permeates throughout and that makes it all the more believable, a la “Raising Arizona.” The dialogue and even the Southern accents are pretty much right on. All of the performances are top-notch, most notably those of Tim Blake Nelson of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” fame as Bubba; John C. Reilly as Phil; Mike White (a former writer for “Freaks and Geeks”) as Corny, the Bible-thumping security guard; and, of course, Aniston, who displays an impressive dramatic range. There are a few places where things get a little heavy-handed, such as the numerous hit-you-over-the-head symbolic references to “Feel that wind? It seems like it’s really stirring up again.” This is a small complaint that is far outweighed by the many positive aspects of this genuine, funny, and thoughtful film.