The Good Girl

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Movie
German title The Good Girl
Original title The Good Girl
Country of production USA , Germany , Netherlands
original language English
Publishing year 2002
length 93 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Miguel Arteta
script Mike White
production Matthew Greenfield
music Tony Maxwell ,
James O'Brien,
Mark Orton ,
Joey Waronker
camera Enrique Chediak
cut Jeff Betancourt
occupation

The Good Girl is a film drama by director Miguel Arteta from the year 2002 with Jennifer Aniston in the lead role.

action

30-year-old Justine Last works at the retail rodeo supermarket in a small town in Texas . Her husband Phil is a painter and varnisher who spends most of his free time with his single friend and work colleague Bubba smoking marijuana on the couch in front of the television. She is bored with her job and her future prospects, she feels trapped. Her wish to have a baby does not come true, whereupon she sends Phil to the doctor to find out whether he is fertile at all.

In the supermarket, she meets the 22-year-old cashier and college dropout Holden Worther. He dreams of a career as a writer and has taken his first name from the main character Holden Caulfield in JD Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye . Justine feels understood by him, because he too feels lost and both of them hate the world. She falls in love with him and the two start an affair.

The affair becomes more complicated when Bubba watches the two of them on a visit to the motel and blackmails Justine: He will tell Phil about the affair if she doesn't sleep with him. She reluctantly gives in and they sleep together. However, Holden observes this and confronts Justine with it. When Holden bursts into tears, Justine realizes that Holden is an insecure, compulsive, and immature person.

Then Justine suspects that she is probably pregnant. Phil arrives when she is doing the pregnancy test and learns about the pregnancy, which he is very happy about. However, Justine doesn't know if the child is Holden, Bubba or Phil. She can rule out the latter, since the test result of the semen analysis says that Phil cannot father children. Phil and Justine tell each other that the doctors were wrong. Bubba supports this thesis in order to save his friendship with Phil.

Meanwhile, Holden robbed the supermarket and stole $ 15,000 to start a new life with Justine. Justine packs her things and takes her car to drive to Holden who is waiting for her in a motel. While she stops at a red light at an intersection, she thinks about her future and decides against Holden. She tells the police where he is. When she appears at the motel to arrest Holden, he shoots himself.

She returns to her husband Phil. The same then learns of the affair through credit card statements. He hits Justine once and is beside himself. Weeping, he asks her if the child is his. She convinces him that it is, and the baby is born.

background

The film was shot in California . Its production cost was an estimated $ 5 million. It grossed $ 14 million in US cinemas.

criticism

James Berardinelli wrote on ReelViews that while the routine was comfortable for most people, it became a prison for Justine Last. The film efficiently shows a life at a standstill (“an effective portrait of a life in stasis”). Berardinelli praised the direction, script and performance by Jennifer Aniston. He wrote that the film could disappoint Jennifer Aniston's fans who are used to her other role in Friends .

Awards

  • Jennifer Aniston won the Teen Choice Award in 2003 . Jake Gyllenhaal and Jennifer Aniston received additional nominations for the Teen Choice Award.
  • Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal, John C. Reilly and Mike White were nominated for the Golden Satellite Award in 2003 .
  • Mike White won the Independent Spirit Award in 2003 ; Jennifer Aniston, John C. Reilly and Matthew Greenfield were nominated for the same award. Gina Kwon received another Independent Spirit Award as a producer in 2005.
  • In 2002 Daniel Bradford won a prize at the Gijón International Film Festival in the “Best Art Direction” category. Miguel Arteta was nominated for a prize at this festival.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for The Good Girl . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , July 2004 (PDF; test number: 98 751 V / DVD).
  2. ↑ IMDb: Filming locations for The Good Girl , last accessed on March 16, 2011
  3. ↑ IMDb: Business Data for The Good Girl , last accessed on March 16, 2011 (English)
  4. ↑ Review by James Berardinelli , last accessed on March 16, 2011 (English)