The Good Girl (2002) Review

Overall: 9/10
Plot/Structure: 10/10
Dialogue: 10/10
Art: 9/10
Re-watchability: 9/10

In a sort of act of serendipity, I stumbled upon this movie. I’ve long been searching for the greatest romantic comedy ever. I think it’s an under-appreciated genre where directors & writers think it’s okay to slack off. The Good Girl proves it can be done well, it can surprise you and have phenomenal dialogue. The film is set somewhere in a boring Texas town. A great example of this style of dialogue that I love is the opening line:

As a girl you see the world as a giant candy store, filled with sweet candy and such. But one day you look around and see a prison, and you’re on death row.

The comedy is dark, yet romantic. Jake Gyllenhaal and Jennifer Aniston make a great on-screen couple. She’s 30 in the movie and he’s 22, but they fall in love like confused teenagers. Even though none of the characters are particularly lovable, you cringe when they die. You feel like you’re in that windy old Texas town and your neighbor died, and you ask yourself why. why. why. Jennifer Aniston’s character at one point says “I wish someone would write a story of my life” while we are ironically watching a story of her life. She continues “but nobody would want to read it.” It’s a story about a common situation, in a boring place surrounded with typical people, yet we’re interested, because they are being honest and sad about life, and that human condition is what makes us care and what keeps us watching. It reminded me alot of Nabokov. (Themes like: People being “put on”, Nobody gets me, Being imprisoned)

As a little easter egg, there’s a clip of Colleen on HSN that I caught. It doesn’t look a lot like her, but it really sounds like her. Maybe Colleen wore tranny makeup back in the day: