The Good Night Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
Dreaming is believing
A comedic fantasy.
Gary Shaller is at a crossroads in his life: his job is going nowhere, his wife, Dora, drives him crazy, and he passed his thirtieth birthday four years ago. Add to that his best friend Paul seems to become more successful every time he breathes. Gary is feeling depressed and dejected... until he meets Anna. She's beautiful and smart; she's sexy and funny. Best of all, she's crazy about Gary. Anna is the girl of Gary's dreams...literally. And that's the problem. Gary can only see Anna in his dream life, so he's got to find a way to carry on the most satisfying relationship of his life, in his dreams. His quest for lucid dreaming techniques introduces Gary to some crazy characters who ultimately give him a new perspective on life.
| Penélope Cruz | Anna |
| Martin Freeman | Gary |
| Gwyneth Paltrow | Dora |
| Simon Pegg | Paul |
| Danny DeVito | Mel |
| Keith Allen | |
| Steffan Boje | Karl Heinz |
| Franco Bulaon | Caterer |
| Michael Gambon | Alan Weigert |
| Peter Rnic | Diner |
| Skye Bennett | Ballerina Girl |
| Lucy DeVito | |
| Sonia Doubell | Shawna |
| Amber Rose Sealey | Terry |
| Jake Paltrow |
6.40 out of 10 (1042 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Awful
posted on 16 Aug 2009It best can be summed up as an attempt to replicate Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind but ending up with something that could possibly get the award of worst movie of the year.Whoever was involved in final editing should be shown the door. There was perhaps enough footage to make something 'comical' but it was sewn together with such clumsiness that even the good music score seemed to be awkward.I can only think that the producers are nervous before general release and i would not be surprised if it gets pulled to be 're-worked' in order to recoup some of the money spent on this.
Sophisticated.
posted on 07 Jul 2009I'm really not sure where the references to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are coming from.This was an extremely well crafted and highly sophisticated film filled with realistic characters and an unusual message for this day and age. The plot structure and main character of the film appear to have been modeled after Brazil. If you like the films of directors like Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas, One Night Stand) and Mike Nichols (The Graduate, Closer), then you should like this one.This was a good move for Simon Pegg. He's shown that he is capable of more than just being "that guy from Shawn of the Dead". I'd like to see him in more serious roles.
Genuinely Special
posted on 01 Jul 2009Saw this one.... loved it. Variety sums it up perfectly."Sweet dreams, indeed. As becalmed and refreshing as a good night's sleep, writer-director Jake Paltrow's first feature delves assuredly into the mind of a lost soul who literally encounters the woman of his dreams. Though its forays into the subconscious may strike more adventurous cinematic palettes as precious and unimaginative, few will be able to resist Martin Freeman's appealing lead turn or the wry Brit wit that gives this fanciful confection a robust comic core. Given the right push emphasizing its marquee names, "The Good Night" could hit sleeper status. Compared to David Lynch's convulsive dreamscapes and Michel Gondry's "The Science of Sleep" - all films that seek to strand the viewer in an impenetrable chain of dream logic -- "The Good Night's" fascination with hallucination and reverie doesn't go much deeper than the surface level. Fortunately, it's an enchanting surface that doesn't wear out its welcome for a good 93 minutes.Puzzling mock-doc prologue introduces a trio of characters discussing the life of sad-sack musician Gary Sheller in tones of hushed regret. Of the three, only Paul ("Shaun of the Dead's" Simon Pegg) plays a part in the story that follows, set two years earlier.Gary (Freeman) is a thirtysomething Londoner now living in New York, a nice but hapless bloke with all the detritus of a movie midlife crisis. Since his band broke up seven years ago, he has eked out a living scoring TV commercials, to the increasing chagrin of his mildly depressive live-in girlfriend Dora (the helmer's sister, Gwyneth Paltrow). Even worse, Gary's friend and former bandmate, Paul, is doing quite well for himself in an advertising career.Given Dora's irritable demeanor and Gary's tendency to aggravate it by saying exactly the wrong thing, it's no surprise that their love life is mutually unsatisfying. So when Gary starts having recurring dreams about a beguiling mystery woman (Penelope Cruz) who seems to offer more of herself to him every night, they have a rejuvenating effect. Wanting more, he takes an active interest in lucid dreaming - the act of becoming aware of and even controlling one's dream state - getting all sorts of tips from a New Age-y, self-styled expert (an amusing Danny DeVito).Gary's growing obsession with manipulating his nocturnal entertainment - he sound-proofs his bedroom and gets cranky whenever he's awakened mid-dream - doesn't improve his relationship with Dora; somehow, even Paul's foolhardy dalliances in cybersex manage to widen the rift. Eventually Dora announces they need time apart and jets off to Venice, leaving Gary to indulge his fantasies to the fullest.But after a wide-awake Gary sees Anna's face plastered on the side of a bus, he soon learns she's a real-life model (whose actual name, Melodia, strikes a rather obvious note), and Paul all too conveniently books her for a commercial. The foundation for Gary's discovery and face-to-face meeting with his fantasy lover isn't particularly well-laid, but by this point, the script has set a fascinating structural dilemma for itself, and Gary and Melodia's waking interactions easily compel one's interest and anticipation.Subsequent plot turns are anything but predictable, and the tale begins to take on a quiet gravity as Gary's fantasy life is increasingly infected by his reality. The moving denouement is both a testament to the power and necessity of dreams and a bittersweet acknowledgment of their limitations.With so many first-time helmers lately piling on the flash and visual gimmickry, the measured pacing and almost crystalline purity of Jake Paltrow's direction can't help but come as a soothing relief. The film-making is arguably too tasteful at times; intriguing as they are, Gary's dream sequences are absent any real sense of mystery or danger, and the use of stately fade-ins and fade-outs as delineating markers leads to some rhythmic awkwardness. In "The Science of Sleep," dreams and reality blurred together inscrutably; here, they exist opaquely side-by-side.Best known Stateside for "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and the BBC's "The Office," Freeman carries the movie in his sleep, so to speak, showing terrific leading-man chops in a delightfully shaggy, self-effacing role. Continuing her dowdy-brunette look from "Running With Scissors," Gwyneth Paltrow comes through with a prickly, witty characterization that, despite a maudlin streak, occasionally lets the sun peek through.Supporting perfs are similarly well handled. Looking as ravishing as she did in "Volver" (with no small help from Verity Hawkes' splendid costumes, including one striking white tux), Cruz breaks her so-called English-language curse with a role that requires her to be seductive and not much else. Needless to say, she acquits herself admirably. And Pegg, with his crack comic timing, pockets every other scene as Gary's lovable bastard of a best friend.Production design is aces, the predominantly gray scheme of Gary and Dora's dreary apartment providing a "Wizard of Oz"-like contrast with the vivid colors and textures of the film's dreamscape; Giles Nuttgen's cinematography astutely follows in kind. Alec Puro's unobtrusively melodic score, which incorporating a tender composition Gary writes late in the picture, plays an especially significant role.Gotham-set pic was largely filmed in London -- a disjunction that, given the film's Anglophilic bent, almost makes sense."
One of the worst movies I've ever seen
posted on 14 Apr 2009One of the worst movies I've ever seen. There's not much movement in the plot if any, so it's basically BORING. The only good thing I could think of in this movie is the music... and also the fact that it takes place in NYC and that's always a nice place to see.The idea that some very known and talented people have worked on makes it even harder to catch how could they get such a lousy result. I guess it's the bad scrip at the end. It's always funny to see how these kinds of films can end up with a good trailer. The idea behind the movie seemed nice as well... both my wife and me are very disappointed. At the bottom line, a waste of time!
The Good Night, just a decent night at the movies
posted on 21 Mar 2009Saw 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
Surrealist Dramedy Falls Way Short Due to a Muddy Execution
posted on 18 Jan 2009It's pretty obvious that first-time director/screenwriter Jake Paltrow was heavily inspired by Michel Gondry's surreal, off-kilter work in "The Science of Sleep" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" in making this downbeat 2007 dramedy. Barely in theaters before heading right to DVD, the film works on an intriguing (albeit unoriginal) premise but is then undermined by a muddy execution and unlikable characters despite some nice visuals. The plot concerns put-upon Gary, a TV commercial jingle writer who was once an '80's Britpop star. His professional life has become a drudge as he begrudgingly works with his best pal and former bandmate Paul, who has sold his soul to become a successful advertising executive. Meanwhile, life at home is no picnic since Gary has to suffer from the constant passive-aggressive derision of his frumpy, needling girlfriend Dora.Into this emotional void, Gary starts to have vivid dreams of a beautiful fantasy woman named Anna, who turns out to have a basis in reality. It's no wonder that Gary seeks the counsel of a "lucid dreaming" expert from New Jersey named Mel who helps him find ways to elongate the dreams for fear of having them evaporate entirely. Once all this is all established, Paltrow lets the film flail around in a series of frustrating scenes that have Gary turning more and more into an emotional zombie. Moreover, the marked contrast between Dora and Anna comes across as overstated with the result being complete indifference toward both women. Paltrow also uses a framing device of documentary-like testimonials from colleagues in Gary's past, a technique that doesn't make sense until the abrupt ending. None of the principal actors are terribly remarkable here except Simon Pegg ("Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz") who brings a much-needed energetic brio to the comically unsavory role of Paul. His cutting scenes with Gary are the best the movie offers.As Gary, Martin Freeman (BBC's "The Office", "Breaking and Entering") is likeably dweeby at first, though he doesn't make credible his past as a debauched rock star. Danny DeVito merely plays a plot device in his customary matter and not much more as Mel. No matter how gorgeous she is (and she truly is in this film), Penélope Cruz is given short shrift by the script, so much so that her character remains incoherent and incomplete. But ironically, a worse fate befalls the filmmaker's famous sister Gwyneth, who has been so deglamorized as Dora as to render her character nearly unsalvageable. Granted there are some funny, off-the-cuff bits like Dora reacting to Gary's maniacal installation of foam over the bedroom windows by asking if it comes in white or Gary inexplicably reading "The Idiot's Guide to Understanding Iraq" in bed, but there isn't enough such cleverness to sustain the film. At 93 minutes, it actually feels overlong. The 2008 DVD provides a rather inchoate commentary from Jake Paltrow that is not very insightful.
Recommended, fascinating movie
posted on 14 Jan 2009I am puzzled by how seldom do the directors feel the need to insert, to put up some cityscapes in their films—I mean, cityscapes without a direct function, without functionality, free, gratifying, for the sake of atmosphere and for balancing the narration. A purely descriptive and atmospheric insert—a big cinema of the urban, of the cityscapes, Dutch studies of atmosphere and brio. Shooting a movie should not mean exclusively filming an action, a series of events. A realist and disinterested exploration of the cityscape. The action, to call it so, needs to be balanced by moments of mere contemplation. The director must understand the note of a cityscape.Besides the other beauties,that the reviewers have mentioned,there are savory cityscapes in this film.
Interesting, but not groundbreaking
posted on 17 Dec 2008I think enough has been said about the strengths and weaknesses of this movie, so I'm not intentionally going to add to that. I just for a change want to give a simple and highly personal opinion as a viewer, looking for a nights entertainment with a new movie. I had never seen any trailers or read any articles on the movie so I had no idea what to expect, but how could I resist a movie with such an interesting blend of some top notch US/UK performers? But that was part of the problem that I'll come to later.Right from the outset I was disoriented. The context and frame of the story were laid out using an opening series of documentary style interviews with both real and fictional characters. Why? It is a fictional story, so adding Jarvis Cocker correctly billed as he is in real life threw me. It added nothing except confusion and took me a long time into the film to realise I was watching a completely fictional tale and no further real life characters were going to pop up.The storyline and performances were deliberately low key, in order to underscore and enhance the main theme, which was one of escape from tedium, routine and the commitment required in real life. Because of this it is easy to see how Martin Freeman was chosen for the central character as he is a master of the droll. But, not wanting to take anything away from any of the fine cast, this created an imbalance which played on my mind throughout. Martin Freeman is a good actor and perfect for the part, but would have thrived better if he had been supported by talented, yet less famous actors/actresses. As it was he was supported by actors with a much higher Hollywood profile, so I was always mindful of upstaging, even if not deliberate. As it turned out Gwynneth Paltrow, Simon Pegg and Danny DeVito managed to restrain their performances in keeping with the theme of the movie and in deference to Martin Freemans leading role. No easy job (especially for DeVito), but they managed it well in the end.The premise as it developed was interesting. Quite by accident, MF found the promise of a life within his dreams that he had always desired. But could he manage to control it to the extent that he could influence its outcome? Could he find a way that this dreamworld could become his new reality? Thereafter, the premise shifted to whether all of this "perfect fantasy" was in fact a better solution than the real world had to offer and at the end of that road, how would it change us as human beings? Interesting and challenging enough to entertain, no doubt. The outcome will surprise few, but satisfy many.Overall, I was entertained and felt that I had good value. I cannot recall a movie with precisely the same themes as this, however it does flirt outrageously with many other movies that weave reality with surreality, such as Eternal Sunshine (as one of the better examples) and because it does not explore any of it's unique aspects to any real depth, I feel it is impossible not to classify it in this genre.
Simon Pegg is the best actor in the world
posted on 08 Oct 2008It's time for Americans to recognize the genius that is Simon Pegg. Have any of you seen Spaced? Shaun of the Dead? Hot Fuzz? England really does have the best male comedians right now. This new film he's done rules. Simon's hilarious, but in a new form. If you love him, I think it's worth seeing. This is more serious than his typical endeavours, so don't expect a broad comedy. But he is tack sharp with lines that will slay (as always)! And, he's doing it with his pal Martin Freeman (from the UK office). Martin's the nice guy....a lost dreamer. And Simon is his half horrible friend who keeps churning out lines that made the audience I saw it with gasp. Simon's working on a new film now with the legendary Nick Frost. Prepare yourself. And Martin's playing Rembrandt, which should be something to see. They seem to slowly be slipping into American consciousness.
Not bad, but victim to a classic blunder
posted on 12 Sep 2008Making a movie about dreams or dreaming is tough, and it shows in this one. The difficulty with dreams in any bit of fiction is that they can't be held accountable; that is, by definition, there isn't any kind of direct correspondence between dream occurrences and narrative significance. A dream (singular) here and there can enrich a narrative with symbolism, causality, subconscious, but when the dream becomes plural then almost universally a story starts to break down. Having gritted my teeth through movies like Waking Life and The Cell, to name a few, I've come to associate "dream" with "lazy" in cinema.That being said, I had to see what Simon Pegg and Martin Freeman would do in a movie together. And the bottom line is, due to these two guys, the movie is worth a watch. Don't may more than $4 to see it.What you get really is a movie without consequences. You have Martin Freeman obsessed with a dream character. OK, kind of interesting, but there's not enough dimension to his girlfriend (Paltrow), who just seems like a nag, or his friend/former bandmate (Pegg), who, granted, is extremely funny but ultimately without Pathos, to really make his dream obsession a truly engrossing psychological/sociological study.And again, what happens here is that the dream sequences, and even the obsession with them, because of the, by definition, incommensurable quality of dreams, their inability to be authentically expressed through proxy (language, film, journals, etc.), leave us as audience members bereft of any feeling of causality, arc, or direction.Also, as a sidenote, the pseudo-documentary format that the film opens with and halfheartedly maintains is confusing and ultimately misdirecting. It ends up looking like the mistake of a novice director.Martin Freeman performs his lines well, Pegg is funny, DeVito is a pleasing eccentric, and Paltrow isn't as annoying as she usually is (however Cruz is somewhat intolerable), so the movie is worth seeing once, if you've got nothing better to do.
dreaming is believing, but not necessarily filming
posted on 09 Aug 2008I didn't know anything about "The Good Night" when I turned it on...and I'm still not sure that I know what it was supposed to be about. Martin Freeman (of "The Office") plays Gary, a former pop star now in a pseudo-relationship with Dora (Gwyneth Paltrow). It looks as if his life is truly going nowhere, when he starts having fantasies featuring a strange woman (Penelope Cruz) who appears in advertisements. I think that that was the plot.I assume that the movie must be a look at Gary's being nearly at the end of his emotional rope, but I found it a little too weird to really follow. A movie dealing with this topic that I recommend is John G. Avildsen's "Save the Tiger", starring Jack Lemmon. Maybe I would have liked this one better had they elaborated on how Gary's experiences change his life - if at all - in the long run. Not terrible, but not one that I would recommend above all others.Also starring Danny DeVito and Michael Gambon.
Nice cast , nice sets BUT as a movie it is DULL
posted on 05 May 2008Penelope Cruz, & Gwyneth Paltrow, Danny DeVito & 2 UK actors Martin Freeman & Simon Pegg team up in this languid romantic comedy-dram.Jake Paltrow (brother of Gwyneth) both wrote & directed this. It is supposed to be a comedy, BUT I found little to laugh at or even smile about. It tends to verge into a dream state, then back to reality,much of it made little sense to me. Supposedly Freeman & Pegg are popular in the UK, I will hold off further opinion to I see another one or 2 movies with them in it.Most if not all of you never heard of the film,reason is simple.It played only in 2 theatres in the US. one for 3 weeks & the other for one week, Total gross (as per IMDb) under $25,000. the film cost about $ 15 million to make. I also was shown in various festivals.This is be a nice tax write off.Filmed in both London UK, & New York City.This type film would have been shown as part of a double feature when I was a lad. It definitely should never have been shown as a single feature.Ratings:**1/2 (out of 4) 67 points (out of 100) IMDb 6 (out of 10)
What is the point of this story.
posted on 19 Apr 2008It's a real bummer when you see the potential in a cast but the script doesn't live up to their abilities. The directing is adept, the camera-work is nice but ultimately I don't get anything out of this film. You have a character who escapes from his naggy one dimensional girlfriend to a model in some billboard prancing around on a beach. If we are going to get into why dreams are cool please spare us the old cliché of some hot chick on a beach. Clichés or not the biggest crime of the film is that it has no point. I am not invested int he flimsy characters and I don't buy the story. It's a true feat when we spend half of a film inside a character's head and learn almost nothing about him. Paltrow needs a lesson from Fellini, Bunuel and some others who know how to make a dream interesting...
Excellent, well done !
posted on 01 Apr 2008I see that this movie isn't well-received. . .? . . . ---I loved it!I like dark humor, and subtlety, and a script that trusts the viewer enough to simply suggest what's happening, and this movie satisfies all of that. Written and directed by Jake Paltrow, starring a mostly British cast of Martin Freeman, sister Gwyneth, Penelope Cruz, Simon Pegg, and Danny DeVito in a strange ensemble none of whom seem to really know one another. There's a sense that this movie isn't really happening, that the characters aren't sure who or what they are to one another, that the action may or may not be delusional: dream? not-dream? the boundary edges of reality have been softened or erased to the point of ambiguity. I believe this is what the director was striving for, and he got it perfectly. I am still reeling by the few comments I saw that disliked this movie--- --were we watching the same flick? Jake has captured the ennui and uncertainty of intimate relationships, especially when artistic personalities are involved. Wishes are faded, hopes for success, mega- or otherwise, are withering or stunted, and the concept of "dreaming" becomes itself part of the uncertainty of the storyline---an uncertainty purposefully part of the script. We live our dreams, we get caught up in our dreams, yet our dreams exist often aside from how we live. And who's to say what's real? Is night consciousness less or more than daytime consciousness? Nothing is 100% real.I don't want to give anything away. I hate spoilers if I haven't seen a movie, and don't want to even accidentally mention something that would detract from another's enjoyment of discovery. Freeman's character is going through a minor meltdown, his life increasingly one on the outside looking in. He's "married," but the love and desire has diminished for both of them. He seeks help from a most unlikely (and most unprofessional) pseudotherapist, DeVito, and the reality of his life begins to unravel as he struggles the more to make sense of it all. It is a brilliant study of a mentally ill and conflicted world with pervasive fears and worries. The cast is excellent. Couldn't be better.I love this movie. I love dark humor, and subtlety. Well done, Jake!
I strangely really enjoyed this movie and found it thought provoking
posted on 08 Mar 2008The movie is amazing on most levels. It's actually a vision into a manic depressed soul who sees a light at the end of the tunnel. The light is in the form of the dream girl Anna (Penelope Cruz, who is absolutely stunning once again in this flick).He has a girlfriend that he has burned every bridge but they still have a deep love blanketed with layers of strife and arguments. Instead of working things through the ventures deep into his mind and tastes something in his dreams that he can get enough of. The dreams start taking control and start getting in the way, The entire time he feels that Anna can save him from his own routine depressed life.The movie starts getting a little weird when Anna walks into his life in human form.In my opinion this is a great movie for peering into the mind of a semi psychotic depressed soul. Exactly what a film should do, make you think on different levels.
so unique
posted on 12 Jan 2008I'm an American living in Prague and was so moved to see this film. It builds with a steady, undying attention to the details of a relationship we don't normally comment on to an end that literally jolts you out of your seat. I haven't seen a film like this in a long while. It's stuck with me for days. Rarely do you see someone confront depression, the search for one's talent and a longing for something more in such a sophisticated form. It explores the human condition as movies once did. It makes you dream. The actors take on roles we have never seen them in. Danny DeVito as a destroyed man lost in his broken mind, Simon Pegg as a hilarious trouble maker, Gwyneth Paltrow as a brunette who's tired of her stagnant life, Penelope Cruz as a dream girl out of a European fantasy, michael gambon and jarvis cocker as guest narrators with a harsh wit and its star, the disappointed and fractured Martin Freeman lost in his dreams.
where the dreams begin
posted on 06 Jan 2008good story. how the dreams can conquer our 'real' life, but also how escaping in this dream world cannot actually solve your problems, because you have been given this life and must face your troubles and turn things go your way. dani de vito's character was an interesting example of how his dream world was more important to him than his awake being. martin freeman's character - gary - though, at one point has the chance to meet his dream girl in real life, and sadly this ends not very well. i was glad to see penelope cruz in a role(gary's real life acquaintance) that i think maybe reflects her off-stage personality - open and honest girl, friendly and looking for fun. her dream world appearance in the scene when gary presents his new song also was admirable. gwyneth paltrow made a good appearance as the cold (brunette, this time :) girlfriend, and i was surprised to see simon pegg in a 'serious' roleoverall - good movie, more European in feel, even though it is filmed in new yorkenjoypeace
A not so memorable film that explores reality and fantasy
posted on 04 Jan 2008This film is about an ex pop star being unhappy about life. He has an unsatisfying relationship with his girlfriend. Through controlling his dreams, he escapes from reality to a perfect dream world.After a promising start, "The Good Night" gets weaker by the minute. Gary and Dora are introduced well, especially highlighting the cracks in their relationship. However, things get worse towards the middle, and in the end the plot does not make sense anymore. The scenes become fragmentary, and heads to a dream like state that no one knows what it is about. Maybe "The Good Night" highlights that a fantasy world is no better than reality? Or the fact that dreams cannot be controlled? Fortunately, Gwyneth Paltrow does a great job in the film, and the scenes are composed well. I still managed to enjoy the film, but I am likely to forget about it very soon.
Fantasy: A good night; reality: a bad movie!
posted on 13 Dec 2007The Good Night is Jake Paltrow's first attempt at writing and directing, and stars Martin Freeman, Gwenyth Paltrow, Penelope Cruz, and Danny DeVito; a star-studded cast! The movie opens with a group of people partaking in a 'This Is Your Life' or 'E! True Hollywood Story' style show about Gary, a former popstar and member of a pop band. Gary now composes jingles for an advertising company, and is married to Dora (Paltrow), and is still good friends with for band mate Paul (Simone Pegg). As Gary's marriage unravels, he begins to have lucid dreams about a beautiful girl, who at first hasn't got a voice, but beautiful, luscious hair and full lips, who later reveals herself to be Anna (Cruz). Gary goes to a lucid dream class to figure out what his dreams mean, and meets Mel (DeVito). With the help of Mel, Gary goes in search of Anna, the girl of his dreams, and meets Melodia, who looks just like the woman in his dreams.You'd expect a story like that would be fascinating and hard to draw your eyes away from, but it's on in the living room as I write this, and I can't seem to draw my eyes to it or bother about it anymore! The cast may be striking and this may be Jake's nice first attempt, and you can tell the work and thought are there, but there's nothing to back it up; no passion for what is going on, it doesn't draw in the crowd and the audience isn't hanging onto the cast's every word!
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DVD in the U.S.?
posted on 16 Aug 2009Not too long ago, the releases stated that the DVD would be out in the U.S. early April (1st or 2nd). When I checked it today, it is gone. What is the problem here? I am waiting for this movie and they keep changing the status of the DVD release My granddaughter, who is an actress in England, has a small role in this movie and I have been waiting quite a while to see it, so I would appreciate someone's answer to my problem. Her name is Skye Bennett. She has also appeared in SHADOWMAN,DARK FLOORS, BOY A, and several others. She is also a figure skater who has competed and won many awards. She enjoyed working with Danny DeVito as he was closer to her size than many of the other actors and she said he was very enjoyable to work with.