Gary is feeling depressed and dejected until he meets Anna. Anna is the girl of Gary's dreams... literally. He 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.
An intriguing premise let down by a classic case of miscasting and some portentous, self-indulgent acts of metaphysical posturing. Nepotism reigns supreme as Gwyneth Paltrow's kid brother Jake, makes his directorial debut with 'The Good Night'; an eminently watchable, if not entirely successful, surrealathon focusing on a washed up singer (Martin Freeman), his obnoxious, manic-depressive partner (Gwyneth Paltrow), former band mate now smug advertising agency owner and boss (Simon Pegg), an oddball dream therapist (Danny Devito) and Freeman's literal dream girl (Penelope Cruz). An absurd, occasionally pitch black, journey chronicling the last, desperate acts of a man on the brink; Freeman puts in a reasonably good performance as an anxious has-been who skirts the edge of his sanity: forced to work for Pegg writing soulless jingles and endure an infuriating relationship with dour shrew Paltrow, its no surprise then, that he begins snatching moments of subconscious salvation in the form of his dream girl, who manifests herself in the shapely form of one Penelope Cruz--how many times is she going to play this role? Even if you count 'Abre Los Ojos' and 'Vanilla Sky' as one, Cruz was also the ideal woman in little seen rom-com 'If Only' and wartime melodrama 'The Girl of Your Dreams'. 'The Good Night' was a film I really wanted to like, and did in places, but ultimately, it's a Plastercine monument to Charlie Kaufmann, and reminds you of how good 'Being John Malkovich', his adaptation of 'Adaptation' and 'Eternal Sunshine Of A Spotless Mind' really were, even Zach Helm's 'Stranger Than Fiction' and Kaufman's own 'Human Nature' didn't quite work as well as one would hope. Now at the risk of sounding isolationist, I found Paltrow's Anglo-American cast awkward and ineffective, for if I were given free reign to recast, things would be a little different: Paltrow and Cruz could stay, John Lithgow in Devito's role, and though Simon Pegg has the art of playing an arrogant prick down to a fine science (or maybe that's just him), I'd love to see Nicholas Cage there instead, whilst Freeman's character would soar with Johnny Depp in Hunter S. Thompson mode (MILLIONS would see it) alternatively, I'd go with an all home counties cast of Chris Morrus for Freeman, Julian Barrat for Pegg, Kate Beckinsale for Cruz, Scotland's own Kelly MacDonald for Paltrow and Richard Briers for Devito (ABOUT the same amount of people would see it). I liked how Cruz was subtitled in Freeman's dreams, and the way in which this movie shows how reality and the subconscious ideal rarely correlate. Penelope Cruz is to Martin Freeman what Julie Christie was to Tom Courtney in 'Billy Liar', in fact, some of 'The Good Night's' strongest scenes come from successfully imitating John Schlesinger's sixties classic, whilst the dream sequences have a mild Gaudassian blur around the edges and are similar in direction to some of the indoor scenes from 'Barry Lyndon'. Martin Freeman was hit n' miss (for no one tops Kevin Bacon's snooze fuelled psychosis in 'A Stir Of Echoes'), Devito is the funniest he's been since 'Get Shorty' and Gwyneth Paltrow was, in spite of her onscreen condition, oddly attractive; evoking memories of her brief fling with solo credibility in 'Sylvia' and 'Proof'. All it really needed was a little work, and 'The Good Night' could've been something akin to a mini-masterpiece, as it is; Paltrow's movie misses the mark a little too often, and since some of its best moments are scenes & motifs borrowed from better films, looks unlikely to find an appreciative audience. I still like the idea, and I'd recommend it to those who like their drama dark, and their humour off the wall. Worth seeing once, and then its off to bed.
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. Dreaming is believing. Former fallen pop singer Gary is going through something of a mid life crisis. Currently writing jingles for local radio he is struggling to find perfection in an imperfect world. When he realises that real life does not measure up to his idealised view of the world, he begins to fall apart... Actors Penelope Cruz, Danny De Vito, Gwyneth Paltrow, Martin Freeman, Simon Pegg, Michael Gambon, Franco Bulaon, Keith Allen, Lucy De Vito, Amber Rose Sealey & Skye Bennett Director Jake Paltrow Certificate 15 years and over Year 2007 Languages English - Dolby Digital (5.1) Duration 1 Hour and 33 Minutes (approx)
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