United Kingdom, Germany, United States · 2007
Rated R · 1h 33m
Director Jake Paltrow
Starring Martin Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Penélope Cruz, Simon Pegg
Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance, Fantasy, Music
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Gary, a musician, is trapped in an unhappy relationship with his live-in lover, Dora. He becomes enthralled with a beautiful seductress who enters his dreams, and tries to control his dream-state so he can spend more and more time with her. When Gary sees his mystery woman's face on a bus billboard, he discovers she is real, and fate brings him an opportunity to meet her.
Director Jake Paltrow's feature debut has all the hallmarks of an earnest young man's feature debut, and while that is not necessarily a bad thing, I can only imagine that it fit Sundance like a fingerless glove when it had its premiere there earlier this year.
There's a gloomy quality to The Good Night I sort of appreciated -- much of it was shot in London, although it's supposed to occur in New York -- but after the initial acerbic setup fades, Gary becomes less and less likable and the movie evaporates into nothing.
New York Magazine (Vulture) by David Edelstein
Jake Paltrow's comedy takes familiar male-angst material and turns it into a painful--but fun--string of jokes.
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
As thin and wispy as a dream you can't quite remember in the morning, writer-director Jake Paltrow's The Good Night wastes the ample comedy talent of Martin Freeman, turns his famous sister Gwyneth into a shrew, and makes you wish Danny DeVito had directed the movie instead of acting in it.
Though its forays into the subconscious may strike more adventurous cinematic palettes as precious and unimaginative, few will be able to resist Martin Freeman's appealing lead turn or the wry Brit wit that gives this fanciful confection a robust comic core.
The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt
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.
Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum
The filmmaker's got good taste -- and luck -- in casting.
The Good Night is at heart a mediocre Sundance variation on the Dudley Moore-Bo Derek alleged classic "10."
TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh
The movie's film-studentish navel-gazing wears thin long before its over.
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
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.
A masterpiece of modern horror.
Former London constable Nicholas Angel's boredom in the English countryside is suddenly halted when he and his partner begin to investigate a series of grisly accidents.