The Good Night

The idea is interesting enough. A musician in his thirties suffers from a major dip in his career and his relationship. But instead of addressing these problems, and have a serious talk with his girlfriend, the main character is more interested in explaining his childish dreams of a hot brunette. I didn't feel gripped for one minute by the story. And at the end, we are supposed to believe that Gary has surmounted his problems because the dreamgirl has said she for one believes in him. He composes a piano tune, gets one more chance from his girlfriend, and that's that. By the way, why has Paltrow used the documentary form? Was there anything to make a documentary about? The guy broke his leg, for heaven's sake. That's not to say there's nothing enjoyable about this film, but it's very little. It's okay if director's debut doesn't smash box office records or win three Palms in Venice. But Paltrow should dig deeper into his subject before making any other movie at all. No matter how good your cast is (and it's pretty decent), without good ideas, any film is bound to disappoint.

I'm still not completely sure what this movie was exactly about. The initial layer suggests a story about an insecure bloke who tries to escape his run aground life through lucid dreaming. Real life and the dream world coincide as he finds out that the woman he is pushing away from his life is actually the one he wants to stay with. People trying to dig beyond this layer have some difficulty. Not because this movie is especially deep but simply because there's not much beyond it period.

Do movies have to be deep or insightful? Of course they don't. But this one to me suggested it may become that. And when it didn't, it left me feel a bit dissatisfied.

With an interesting story nonetheless, solid acting throughout, some great jokes and appealing visuals this movie rises well above the average Hollywood production. What it simply lacks are some really poignant scenes and build up towards the end. But just like the main character Gary who never rises above himself, the movie doesn't either. But maybe that was the whole point.

That said, there's absolutely no harm in bringing this one home for a view.

7/10

Saw the world premiere showing of the Good Night at the Sundance Film Festival last week and have come to report back on my findings. Was really looking forward to this one, story sounded interesting in an Eternal Sunshine kinda way, and the cast is top notch. The Good Night stars Martin Freeman as former brit pop star Gary, who hasn't exactly been doing a whole lot since his famed band went on the skids. Gary lives a less then fulfilling life with his long time girlfriend Dora, played by the excellent Gywenth Paltrow, and keeps company with successful ex bandmate Paul, played by the hilarious Simon Pegg. Gary spends his days doing meaningless commercial gigs in which his creative talents are kept in check in order to create more familiar music that sounds like the theme from "Cheers". Understandably Gary needs an outlet from his less then stellar career and from his almost non-existent relationship with Dora. One night Garys finds that outlet in his dreams, more specifically in the perfect female form played by Penelope Cruz. Desperate to escape reality Gary finds himself wanting more to live in his sleeping life then in his real life and he finds an unusual guide in Mel, played by Danny Devito. Mel mentors Gary on this lucid dreaming and soon Gary finds himself mastering his dreams, but in reality his good nights are turning into bad days.

Sounds interesting but does it work, well not so much. Much like a dream the story is scatter shot and incomplete. We only get a glimpse into the characters lives and as the story goes along we still don't have a lot of info here. Does Gary want to be a pop star again, is he jealous of the success of his friend, does he really care about his girlfriend - did he ever and whats so special about his dream girl? Gary is as lost in life as he is on the audience, he feels distant as do most of the characters here, aside from the amusing Paul. In the end this movie just doesn't quite work out, maybe it wasn't supposed just like a dream. All that being said its a nice first movie by Jake Paltrow, he's got a good vision and his effort here is obviously promising but frankly the story was beneath his directing talents. As for the actors, Martin Freeman, Gywenth, Devito - all very good work but again the story just is so-so and the acting can't save that. The Good Night, just a decent night at the movies

Being a fan of Gwyneth Paltrow and Penelope Cruz, seeing the neat looking poster, and having an interest in the exploration of dreams in films, I decided to give The Good Night a try. Little did I know the nightmare that would become the next hour of my life. The Good Night has an inadequate exposition; it's a poorly introduced and explained film that flatlines for the first hour. If The Good Night would've supplied the theaters showing it with sleeping masks like 3D movies handing out glasses, it would've been a more enjoyable night out.

I love watching films about our dreams. When filmmakers make us think about our subconscious when we rest and the truths we realize about ourselves are extremely interesting to me. The only truth Martin Freeman learns about his dreams until the third act is how much he wants to have sex with Penelope Cruz. The storyline of the film doesn't warrant the film's existence. The Good Night tries to comment on a mid-life crisis, but inaccurately musters up a conventional, musty representation of one.

The simple thoughts the filmmakers built the film on could've been the starting point of intriguing ideas, but instead feel like they were tomatoes, cut in half, placed on hot pavement, under the sun on the hottest day of the year. Every idea is dried up and are roasted by the lack of effort. The first hour contains some really awful dialogue on top of the lack of development behind the plot. The person who designed Gwyneth Paltrow's character's look should've been fired, her unflattering hair is the thing I focused on most of her screen time due to lack of interest in The Good Night's third-rate production.

A thought that I literally squealed out of my mouth during The Good Night was "How did this script and director attract this cast?" The cast is not as ghastly as the rest of the film. Gwyneth Paltrow actually delivers a few great scenes throughout and the film finally begins to wake up when Penelope Cruz's character is not just a figment of the imagination anymore, Cruz is much to thank for the film's kick in the ass to at least shift out of reverse. The one upside of the script is the occasional sincere quotes about life. The Good Night does begin to look up in the last half hour. It finally starts to dig deeper into the Paltrow-Freeman relationship, I began to feel this trip wasn't completely waste of my time.

When I was watching The Good Night I had no clue who the director was that I was throwing insults at in my head. After finishing, I was informed it was none other than Gwyneth Paltrow's brother, Jake Paltrow. When the talent was being divvied up in the family, it's clear Jake wasn't given the fair amount. The Good Night is poorly made and dreadfully thought up, though the film's last act begins to rectify the harm of the first hour, there's no salvaging the departed film. The bottom line is, The Good Night shouldn't have been telling us how to have a mid-life crisis, it should've been living one. It's unmistakably obvious The Good Night isn't even as deep as the paper in which its script has been typed on.

Rating: 4

Grade: C-

It is probably wise to take it easy on first venture by writer/director personas who probably would not have had their initial film see the light of day (or dark of theater) were it not for the connections of a famous show biz family. But Jake Paltrow did indeed achieve this goal so with the idea in mind that this is an initial outing so its best to look for the reasons this little film works and the reasons it could be better.

Gary Shaller (Martin Freeman) is an artist on the skids: he has a history of being a successful songwriter/musician but now is woefully stuck writing asinine jingles for second rate TV shows. His home life is no better as his wife Dora (Gweneth Paltrow) is a nagging discontent whiner. And he is now thirty-four years old with little hope for change. All of this is brought into clear focus by the quite opposite life of his best friend Paul (Simon Pegg) who seems to have it all right. Gary encounters dream whisperer Mel (Danny DeVito) who introduces him to Lucid Dreaming - and Gary somnolently discovers the beautiful, smart, sexy Anna (Penelope Cruz), the woman of his 'dreams' who crosses over being imagined and being real - and who adores Gary. And this discovery and the manner in which Gary deals with it forms the solution of the story.

The idea of lucid dreaming has been used before (Inception, The Science of Sleep, Eternal Sunshine, etc), but the concept is strong enough that Jake Paltrow's offering of his version is not a problem. Many parts of the film are sweet, but in general it drags and refuses to flesh out the characters enough to make us really care. But as a story about choosing between dream life and real life, a bit of Shakespeare would help: 'We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep.'

Grady Harp