The Human Times #8 | Lives Of Quiet Desperation 
               "The Good Girl" and "One Hour Photo"
Written By: Marianne Moro

Feisty but unfulfilled women have always played prominent roles in film and literature. In Thelma and Louise, they choose death rather than return to their previous lives. In Madame Bovary, the heroine suffers a slow spiritual and emotional suicide til her body finally gives out, too. In The Piano, she chooses a new life. In the new Jennifer Aniston film, The Good Girl the character of Tina Last does the right thing - even though both her choices are pretty dismal, she chooses the lesser of two evils. Her life of quiet desperation is punctuated by a few bouts of noisy desperation.

The theme of "The Good Girl" is that of the woman trapped in a routine and groundless life by marrying the wrong man. This tried and true formula was bereft of humor til Thelma and Louise. Like Thelma and Louise, The Good Girl has its funny moments, but is overall, is a less tragic, modern extension of Madame Bovary. Tina is left to marry her high school sweetheart whose saving grace is that, like Charles Bovary, he is utterly clueless. No wonder Tina is drawn to the young, mysterious stranger played by Jake Gyllenhaal. (Classic exchange upon their first meeting - Tina - "I notice you don't socialize much. Holden -"I'm a writer.")

The psychological ramifications of a vacuous marriage are the same for a man I suppose; though he can't be called a slut if he seeks solace elsewhere. Most indicative of this emptiness is the scene where Tina has to chose between staying with her sick friend and tryst with Holden, when filling up an empty space anyway you can becomes more important than anything else.

There's a long road from the likeable but flawed Jennifer Anniston character in "The Good Girl" to the creepy photo clerk played by Robin Williams in "One-Hour Photo." Both films feature dead-on performances by actors generally known as comedians. Both delve into lives of quiet desperation that eventually explode. For Sy Parrish in One-Hour Photo; there is no respite, no one to go home to - well, no one real anyhow.  Meticulously plotted and antiseptic as the polished Sav-mart floors Sy walks on, repression and rage replace the camaraderie of the Retail Rodeo. In the big glossy suburban world the gap between normal folks is wide enough but in Sy 's case its more like a chasm. Usually, you'd feel sorry for such a character but here the ickiness factor is immediate and all consuming. Even the noble reason given for his actions at the end doesn't engage our sympathies.

Both films exhibit a colorless suburbia that unwittingly becomes a character on its own. Senor Tuna, the Sav-mart and the upscale hotel in One Hour Photo is vanilla bland. Its no wonder errant lives are played out in such an atmosphere.

Be sure to check out Brian Orndorf's reviews of The Good Girl  and One Hour Photo.
                                              
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