The Good Night
A Comedic Fantasy.
Penélope Cruz, Martin Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Danny DeVito co-star in this wry look at an obsessed man who will do anything to make his passion-filled dream life a reality. Gary Sheller (Freeman) is caught in a midlife crisis: dead-end job, depressing life and a deteriorating relationship with his girlfriend Dora (Paltrow). That is, until he meets Anna (Cruz), the girl of his dreams. Able to see her only while asleep, Gary seeks out an expert on lucid dreaming techniques (DeVito) who agrees to help Gary carry on the most satisfying relationship of his life. But as Gary continues to shun reality, his waking life troubles only worsen in this illuminating dark comedy.
Member Reviews
Passable - detersti
Not a complete waste of time. It was shot in an interesting way. Made NY seem very gloomy and resemble a vision of a dark future. That may be a bit of an exageration, but I didn't even realize it was NY until half way through the movie. Given the english accents and gloomy shots, I thought it was in London. Performances were ok, though generally not very challenging. And I agree with the previous comment, it isn't a comedy, but a drama.Contains one of the greatest scenes I've ever seen! - PFHLTB
This drama (no, it is NOT a comedy) was written and directed by Gwyneth Paltrow's brother, Jake. I found most of it to be a snoozefest, which makes sense since it spends some time in the dream world. That's where Penelope Cruz comes into the story. Unfortunately, she is wasted here, and her part, though important to the plot, is too small. Danny Devito also annoyed me and if it wasn't for Gwyneth's nice enough performance as an uninterested girlfriend, in a relationship that appears to be going nowhere fast, I would have fallen asleep in less than 20 minutes. Even so, every time she and her boyfriend, played by Martin Freeman (no, he's NOT related to Morgan), the lead actor in this mess, get ready for bed, she always depressingly says, "I love you," to him, and he replies, "Me too." That "Me, too" is the highlight of his performance simply because you can hear the sheer desperation in it. Freeman's character is engaging enough, but the plot is virtually nonexistent and forced me to use the FF scan button in order to stay awake.
Luckily, Jake Paltrow's commentary helped explain the idea of the movie and what was going on, so that I was able to keep up with everything. He even decided to record the commentary in the room that he wrote the film in, so that he might remember even more about his motivation for writing each scene. The accoustics of the room were rather poor, but I still had no trouble hearing each and every word he spoke. He's a talented guy, and I'm sure he'll do better the next time out.
Now, for the most important scene in the movie! It occurs near the end (around the 1 hour and 23 minute mark), with only about 10 minutes left. I can't tell you what the scene is about, but I can tell you that it's one of the best executed scenes I've ever seen. Perhaps it's because the rest of the movie was mostly insignificant, however, even when I watched that same scene 30 seconds later, it still affected me in the same wonderful way!
Member Reviews
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Passable - detersti
Not a complete waste of time. It was shot in an interesting way. Made NY seem very gloomy and resemble a vision of a dark future. That may be a bit of an exageration, but I didn't even realize it was NY until half way through the movie. Given the english ...Contains one of the greatest scenes I've ever seen! - PFHLTB
This drama (no, it is NOT a comedy) was written and directed by Gwyneth Paltrow's brother, Jake. I found most of it to be a snoozefest, which makes sense since it spends some time in the dream world. That's where Penelope Cruz comes into the story. Unfortunately, ...