Remains aloof and cold throughout, despite the best efforts of its cast to bring some life to the proceedings.
The Good Night (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:41
Fresh:12
Rotten:29
Average Rating:4.8/10
Consensus: That The Good Night is the work of a first-time writer/director is apparent, as the story feels disjointed and never connects with the audience.
Theatrical Release:Oct 5, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: Jake Paltrow directs his sister Gwyneth in this take on the midlife crisis. Gary (Martin Freeman) was once riding high as the member of a successful pop band. Now, seven years later, the band is no... Jake Paltrow directs his sister Gwyneth in this take on the midlife crisis. Gary (Martin Freeman) was once riding high as the member of a successful pop band. Now, seven years later, the band is no more and he pays the bills by composing mediocre music for commercials. To further add to his unhappiness, his relationship with his girlfriend, Dora (Paltrow), appears to be on its last legs. The only thing Gary looks forward to anymore is sleeping--so that he might have a reoccurring dream about a beautiful mystery woman he calls Anna (Penelope Cruz). He even goes so far as to take dream workshops taught by a scruffy eccentric named Mel (Danny Devito), in the hopes of prolonging his experiences in his subconscious. He soon becomes obsessed with escaping into his dreamworld, and his real life begins to fall apart. Depressed and confused, he finally has a revelatory dream wherein he realizes he needs to make a major change and return to reality. He plots a grand romantic gesture to get his life back on track, but the plan backfires with rather shocking and tragic results. Martin Freeman gives an endearing performance as the befuddled Gary, and Gwyneth Paltrow is splendidly obnoxious as the nagging, frowning Dora. Viewers should take note, while THE GOOD NIGHT is billed as a romantic comedy, it's definitely not standard fare. It certainly has its share of laughs and feel good moments, but it also has some pretty dark undertones that one doesn't usually find in the rom-com genre. [More]
Starring: Martin Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Penelope Cruz, Simon Pegg
Starring: Martin Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Penelope Cruz, Simon Pegg, Danny De Vito, Keith Allen, Michael Gambon
Director: Jake Paltrow
Director: Jake Paltrow
Screenwriter: Jake Paltrow
Producer: Donna Gigliotti, Bill Johnson
Composer: Alec Puro
Studio: Yari Film Group
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Release:
Apr 1, 2008
Reviews for The Good Night
The Good Night doesn’t quite know where to go with this potentially rich, unsettling material.
Paltrow's film is Gondry's The Science of Sleep, dulled by an overdose of Lunesta.
Despite some wry humour, the miscast leads and sour tone are as out of place in this Woody Allen landscape as Gwyneth’s silly wig.
Jake Paltrow's first feature delves assuredly into the mind of a lost soul who literally encounters the woman of his dreams.
The material is often too bizarre and esoteric for ordinary people to be able to relate to any of it.
The Good Night takes familiar (embarrassingly familiar) male-angst material and makes it go loop-de-loop, so that the jokes hit you from behind and underneath while the bleakness smacks you in the face.
As a comedy of male delusion, Night seems to shrink from its flimsy dramatic subtexts; as a probing of dream and reality in love, its pretensions to depth suggest a neutered comedic courage: Woody Allen-lite.
With The Good Night, like any worthwhile dream, you may not be able to fully appreciate the experience, but after you wake up, you vaguely sense that you accomplished something while being out
The comedy of male midlife angst dates back at least to The Seven-Year Itch, when it was sweet and innocent. Each time it is recycled, it gets more sour and joyless.
There is a fine idea for a romantic comedy in Jake Paltrow's The Good Night but the writer-director, in his debut feature, never develops it much beyond the idea stage.
What comedy there is fails to ignite and the romance is stillborn since we don’t care who sleeps with whom or whether they do it in real life or the dream world.
Skimming through comedy, satire and cautionary tale, it’s all somewhat vague – exasperatingly so when suggestive artiness seems to have been intended. Not as clever as it thinks.
Unsympathetic characters, a lead performer that does not register, and a script that comes across like improvisations do not bode well for Jake Paltrow's debut feature.
Feature debut of Jake Platrow (brother of star Gwyneth Paltrow, who co-stars) is a disappointing meditation on the danger and seductiveness of dreams, a pale imitation of Woody Allen's edgier urban comedies.
Promising debut from writer-director Jake Paltrow about a sleep-obsessed man who meets the literal girl-of-his-dreams has some perceptive moments amid a lot of tossing and turning.
As thin and wispy as a dream you can't quite remember in the morning.
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September 30, 2007:
This sleepyhead Prince Charming is in for a rude awakening when the choosy, chain smoking Anna, actual female that she is, finds him an annoying loser, and at best undesirable. Au revoir, unconditional love. Someone wake me when it's over. ![]()
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August 23, 2007:
Kid brother Jake Paltrow gets behind the camera to direct celeb sibling Gwyneth in a cerebral yarn about a failed musician who compensates for a bummer of a life by falling in love with the woman of his dreams literally, that he visits in his sleep. ![]()
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