The Age of Commercialism

Sorry, this movie sucks

Load of rubbish!!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Jake Paltrow's 'The Good Night' tells an interesting story revolving around dreams. I liked the creativity that was used in this movie and the concept behind the story. What if life has become so dull and sad that one prefers living in their dream through lucid dreaming? The storytelling is pretty tricky as it hints and suggests without exactly revealing until the very end. In between the main story, the film jumps into interview scenes with Gary's friend, ex-girlfriend and ex-bandmember talk about him. The dream sequences are very well executed. I liked how Penelope Cruz's voice was modified to suit Ana (who is a figment of Gary's dream). The screenplay is solid. Martin Freeman does a superb job. Simon Pegg is first rate. Penelope Cruz is wonderfully sensual. Gwyneth Paltrow does a fine job and Danny De Vito is terrific. Music is an important component of the film and 'The Good Night' is provided a brilliant score. This is a unique little film that had me engaged throughout its running time and I may pay a revisit sometime later.

What a big disappointment.But I had to expect it...the film The Good Night has an impressive cast but it was however kept "canned" for almost two years.Now,after its mediocre performance on various markets around the world,this uninteresting and very boring film was released on DVD in my country.The characters from this movie are superficial and this movie is composed by tedious scenes which lack of any energy or interest.The only thing which adds some points to this very poor movie are the performances from the previously mentioned cast,which in spite of dealing with bad material,can efficiently transmit to the spectator some of their respective talents,like humor (Martin Freeman and Simon Pegg),drama (Gwyneth Paltrow and Penélope Cruz) and indescribable presence (Danny DeVito and Michael Gambon).The Good Night was the first work as a director and screenwriter from Jake Paltrow (Gwyneth's brother),and although he could attract a very solid cast,he constructed a very weak screenplay while as a director,he could not find a good style,rhythm or tone for this movie.This may be a short commentary but I have already lost enough time with this movie,so as a final warning,I suggest you not to see it.

It'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...

It'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.