Rating: 
Summary: Unlikeable Characters
Review: Jennifer Aniston certainly proves she can act in this film, playing the Anti-Rachel. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to like her character, or most of the others. She plays a selfish and amoral woman, who seems to care nothing about the feelings or well-being of others. Other unlikeable characters included her illicit lover, "Holden", a self-absorbed, whiney twit, who idolizes Salinger, but is himself a rather talentless writer, and Bubba, her husband's sleazy and opportunistic friend. In fact, the only character in the film who comes off at all sympathetic is her dim-witted but well-meaning husband, who seems to actually care about her for some reason. She should have gotten her husband into drug-treatment, and herself into night classes. Instead, she continues to lie to him right up to the end, apparently having learned nothing from her experience. Neither does the audience.
Rating: 
Summary: Really hard to rate
Review: This movie has received so much attention that it is really hard to rate. Jennifer Aniston does manage to shake off the cloak of Rachel which is a good thing as she had become stuck in a rut but I wouldn't say that it was Oscar worthy, although there are some good moments, usually when she is in close up.
Aniston plays Justine, a clerk at Retail Rodeo who is bored to tears with her life and her stoner husband Phil. She is attracted to Holden, a new cashier who is depressed, younger and claims to be a frustrated writer. The movie revolves around their affair, the way Justine feels that she is becoming "bad" and the decisions she makes in her attempt to become "good" again.
It is a comedy, and this is done to make the tragedy appear more real, the most comedic parts being Anistons narration which is in excellent deadpan, and some of the peripheral characters, especially Zooey Deschanels bored clerk.
The biggest problem I have is in Justines relationships. John C. Reilly is great as her husband but you can't see how they ended up together in the first place and because you don't care about their relationship until the end, you don't care about her having an affair either. I had trouble sensing any spark between her and Holden either, he is so depressed and depressing I can't see where any passion could have arisen. It is easier to imagine them getting drunk together and passing out. The directors did say that Justine was written as more stupid than Aniston played her and maybe that caused the disconnect. The performances are all good so maybe it is the writing or direction. It just seems that this movie came really close but just missed hitting the spot.
Rating: 
Summary: A surprising little gem
Review: This movie is so much more than I had expected. It's a mix of 'American Beauty' and 'any romantic comedy'. The situations that Justine gets herself into are hilarious, and the colorful charecters that populate her world are amazing. This movie is truly a wonderful surprise. The DVD has a few extra features but nothing really to get excited about. I think this is definately better than alot of comedies out there.
Rating:
Summary: What's The Big Deal?
Review: I don't get it. What's all the buzz really about? That Jennifer Aniston can play something other than her "Friends" role? Cmon! Aniston plays Justine, a depressed check out girl at a small town retail store who longs for something more. She meets Holden, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, a much younger, new employee and has an affair with him. The skinny: he falls in love, becomes obsessed, gets her pregnant, robs the retail store and then......I won't blow the ending. Did I mention she was married to John C Reilly? Anyway, she tells him the baby is his and they live happily ever after in Normalsville. The story drags, though there is a very suspenseful pivotal moment for her (at a stoplight), but overall the film falls flat. Good Girl is nothing to run out to so save your pennies for the DVD rental. **1/2
Rating:
Summary: Almost but not quite
Review: A crew of good actors is lost in the often swampy scenario of The Good Girl. The basic principle--that people can be moved to dumb acts by boredom/dissatisfaction--is good enough. But the film tries too hard to be too many things. At moments it's a comedy; at other moments, it's dark. The humor is brought along by Zooey Deschanel's terrifically irreverent performance--applying Kabuki-like makeup to hapless customers and delivering nutty, unheard PA announcements to store customers. John C. Reilly is sweetly unpredictable as Aniston's good-natured, ...smoking, clunkhead husband. The camera loves Aniston and she's intriguing to watch; it's just not entirely clear who she's supposed to be--she doesn't quite manage to inhabit the character of Justine to the extent that she's believably almost as much of a clunkhead as her husband. And unlike his astonishing performance in Donnie Darko, Gyllenhaal just doesn't pull it off this time. He's not at all sympathetic. Again, he plays off the surface of Holden, without burrowing in deep to bring enough to the character to make us care. See this film for Zooey; she's hilarious and delivers the only completely three-dimensional character.
Rating:
Summary: *Terrible*
Review: I'm not sure what I was thinking when I rented this tragedy of a movie. I was seduced by the positive remarks ensconced on the cover of the movie, I suppose. I can't think of any other reason why I would pick up this -- otiose, dull, exasperating -- movie.Jennifer Aniston stars as a bored girl exhausted by her supermarket job, and her pot-smoking dull and lifeless husband. Entranced by the gothic self-styled Holden from Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, Aniston's character decides to risk everything -- which is pretty much nothing -- and have a fling. The fling turns into one of those languishing romances where the nerd-boy threatens to commit suicide should she leave him. Meanwhile her husband's best friend catches her at a motel with this kid and threatens to squeal should she fail to sleep with him as well. Lameness escapes in every minute of this mangled, lifeless waste of precious time. Dull and pedantic, the character's go through a mindless dance with forgetable scenarios and a plot so thickly-lined with stupidity it leaves you with a sense of general dread for not having stopped the insanity when you still had a chance. Avoid this movie. It is _terrible_.
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting...
Review: Having read several reviews of this movie before renting it, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Some people seem to think it's a comedy, others think it's a "dark" comedy, and others claim it's a bleak drama. The truth is, it's not a movie that comes with a built-in genre indicator, which may be why some reviewers found it so frustrating. Certainly, if one was hoping for a light-hearted comedy, this movie would be a big disappointment. Jennifer Aniston plays a young woman stuck in a dead-end retailing job in a dead-end town in a dead-end life...her husband is a well-meaning schmuck and throughout the film she wears this look on her face like life has already passed her by. When a dark and brooding new co-worker exchanges meaningful looks with her, an ill-fated romance begins that is clearly more about her needing to find an escape from her life than any actual connection between the two of them. Things quickly become complicated. Not in a wacky comedy kind of way, but more in a real-life kind of way. People at work are noticing them spending too much time together. Her husband's best friend catches on and uses the information to blackmail her. Soon, Jennifer Aniston is stuck in a situation that has no "right" answers. Ultimately, "The Good Girl" is a morally ambiguous film that challenges the viewer to form her/his own opinion about the lead character's choices. Are moral compromises inevitable? Is it fair to put one's own happiness before one's responsibilities? Is romantic self-destruction really all that romantic, or is it just a way to distract oneself from the daily grind? A very satisfying movie with no easy answers, "The Good Girl" has none of the gloss and glitter of a Hollywood film. It is an observant and thoughtful film, well acted, and very much worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: Good Movie
Review: I liked this movie...It was almost like one of those independent films W/ lots of layers, the kind you think about afterwards. (A nice change from the junk out there.) (Was it an independent film?) Jennifer Aniston is searching for more, more than what she has. Working all day in a super-market, going home to a man she doesn't really love, then doing the whole thing over and over and over again. Because of her inability to change her environment, she has an affair with a younger man who works at the super-market too, who just happens to have as many problems as she has. Unfortunately, adding to her dismal existence. The entire film is filled with dissatisfied, robotic, people who cannot or will not change. Who accept the situations they are in. Who are, put mildly, stuck in a big, fat rut. In reality, many people are living like this. Just settling for whatever it is they feel they deserve. A loveless marriage, a job they detest, no direction. So... They go through the motions, like Jennifer. One day after the next, one month after the next, one year after the next... Until it's too late.
Rating: 
Summary: Ignore the "Friends" Fans
Review: This was a great movie. The only reason there are so many bad reviews is because it is labeled as a comedy (which it is, but it's quite dark), therefore all the stupid "Friends" junkys except some ditsy romantic comedy rather than a good film. It is good though. Watch it if you like dark comedy. Don't watch it if you like happy endings and fluffiness.
Rating:
Summary: Choices, choices .....
Review: Anyone that rates this movie less than 4 stars simply doesn't "get" the movie. Or the characters either, to paraphrase a bit from the film. This movie is all about choices, both good and bad and the repercussions of those choices. Choosing to rate this film poorly because Jennifer isn't like she is on Friends or because the film is "slow" or "dark" isn't the wrong choice but it does indicate the basic misunderstanding of independent film and why actors and actresses want to move away from the roles they are best known for. Anyone that chooses to rate this film poorly is stuck in a rut much the same as Christine is in the film. Watch it and you will know what I mean......
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