The Good Girl | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Miguel Arteta |
Produced by | Matthew Greenfield |
Written by | Mike White |
Starring |
Jennifer Aniston Jake Gyllenhaal John C. Reilly Tim Blake Nelson Zooey Deschanel Mike White |
Music by |
Tony Maxwell James O'Brien Mark Orton Joey Waronker |
Cinematography | Enrique Chediak |
Edited by | Jeff Betancourt |
Production
company |
Myriad Pictures
Flan de Coco Films |
Distributed by | Fox Searchlight Pictures |
Release date
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Running time
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93 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $8 million |
Box office | $16.9 million |
The Good Girl is a 2002 American black-comedy drama film directed by Miguel Arteta from a script by Mike White, and stars Jennifer Aniston, Jake Gyllenhaal and John C. Reilly.
Justine Last (Jennifer Aniston) is a depressed and unmotivated thirty-year-old woman living in a small town in Texas with her husband Phil (John C. Reilly), a house painter who spends most of his free time smoking marijuana with his best friend, Bubba (Tim Blake Nelson). Justine works at Retail Rodeo, the local big-box store, along with Cheryl (Zooey Deschanel), a cynical, plain-spoken young woman, Gwen (Deborah Rush), a ditzy older woman who manages the cosmetics counter, and Corny (Mike White), a Nazarene security guard.
One morning, Justine notices a new cashier and later introduces herself. Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal) appears quiet and reserved, qualities that the two of them share and, therefore, quickly take a liking to one another. They begin taking their lunch breaks together and Justine gives Holden rides home. One time, he invites her in and she accepts. They swap stories about their lives including how Justine feels unappreciated by Phil and Holden tells her of his obsession with J. D. Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye, from where he got his name.
As the weeks go by, Justine and Holden start to bring out the best in each other. But when Holden makes a pass at her, she rejects him, leaving him dismayed. He becomes more and more besotted by her. Some time later, Holden does not show up to work but sends a letter to Justine, writing that if she does not meet him at 5pm that day behind the nearest Chuck E. Cheese, she will never see him again. After much consideration, Justine decides to accept Holden's invitation, only to be intercepted by her manager, Jack (John Carroll Lynch), who insists that she take a very ill Gwen to the hospital. Justine then meets up with Holden. The two have sex for the first time in a motel room that Justine pays for with her credit card.