The Good Night (2007)

Too much of everything

Brilliant and touching

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

I really like this film, OK it didn't quite have the plot 100% perfect and it got a little mucky. But I think that is good, because it had an interesting concept and it delivered on that concept enough to make me sit down after the credits started rolling and have a real think about it. That's what I look for in a movie and this one delivered.The movies main message is a man with a sad boring life going through a mid life crisis, trying to find an escape. He finds it in his dreams, now this is where the film gets me, because although I'm not depressed I too on many occasions I wish that I could go into a perfect world and never wake up. Now he must decide which one he wants, a real life or a dream world, this is where it gets a bit cliché but nothing you can't handle. Definatily a rental.

There's something about dreams that requires relaxation and patience. They have a certain fluidity about them that if they're hurried or rushed they just aren't as effective. As is fitting for a film about dreams, "The Good Night" works because of good acting and gentle pacing. The result is one of those good old fashioned dark comedies that walks the line between drama and dark humor.Martin Freeman is one of these actors that takes grips on the "average guy" role and has as much fun as he can with it. As Gary, the band member turned commercial music composer, he is effective in demonstrating his lack of joy in his current relationship with Dora (Gwyneth Paltrow) and sinking into obsessive dreams about the make believe Anna (Penelope Cruz). Freeman is always a good lead because no matter what he does, he's likable and we're always rooting him on, even as Dora calls him a jerk and she's probably right at one point.But a lot of the humor in the film comes from the supporting players. Simon Pegg is always a no brainer for comedy because of his spot on delivery. As Gary's friend and boss, Paul, he jumps into the role of the somewhat amoral friend with his own relationship problems. However, he does still listen to Gary and even takes joy in some of his obsessiveness.Then there's Danny Devito, playing the typical Danny Devito character as he hosts a dream support group but works odd jobs and hasn't had a relationship of his own for over 40 years. Despite all this, he still hears Gary out and Gary takes a lot of his advice. Devito has a lot of good one liners and a very funny introduction scene.As to the movie as a whole, it's good but not great. Definitely worth a look. Part of me saw this as a dark comedy going through the motions and becoming very predictable as we got closer to the end. The premise was very fresh though and director Jake Paltrow really seizes the opportunity of capturing the dreamlike quality of some of the scenes. The performances and well paced direction really glue the movie together though, and at 90 minutes, it's not a bad movie to give a watch.

I 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 its dark humor, and its subtlety. Well done, Jake!

The 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.