[3] Justine Last is a bored thirty-year-old woman living in small-town Texas with her husband Phil, a house painter who spends most of his free time smoking marijuana with his best friend, Bubba.

She meets the new cashier, Holden, who spends his free time reading The Catcher in the Rye as he identifies strongly with the protagonist.

Holden shares stories he's written with Justine, most of them reflecting his own feelings and alienation and all ending with the main character committing suicide.

Justine feels happy and excited by the affair and Holden's affection, but becomes concerned when she spots Bubba's truck parked across the street from the motel where they've been meeting.

The site's consensus reads, "A dark dramedy with exceptional performances from Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhaal, The Good Girl is a moving and astute look at the passions of two troubled souls in a small town.

"[6] Critic James Berardinelli wrote, "Her performance is forceful and effective - she effortlessly submerges herself into the role, and, after only a moment's hesitation, Aniston has vanished and all that's left is lonely, trapped Justine.

In some ways she may feel as trapped as Justine by playing Rachel Green, the poor little rich daddy's girl of television's Friends.

She comes up with an inventively morose physicality for Justine: her arms hang at her sides as though shackled; they're not limp appendages but weighed down with unhappiness.

The plucky dream girls she's played in movies like the underseen 1999 classic Office Space are expressive and given to anxious displays of hand waving.

"[3] Writing for DVD Talk, Geoffrey Kleinman said, "There are two things which make The Good Girl work so well: the fantastic script by Mike White, which is smart, funny, and honest, and the breakout performance by Jennifer Aniston who simply embodies her character.