Reviewed by EWAN McDONALD
Herald rating: * * * *
After being extremely kind and generous to Adam Sandler last week, it may come as a shock to regular readers but I'm going to be nice about a real, full-length, grown-up movie starring a Friends-person.
Heading a slew of good releases for the
holiday weekend, this independent movie -- part satire, part turbulent emotional drama -- stars Aniston as Justine, who works on the checkout at Retail Rodeo, a store that approximates our Red Sheds.
Justine's co-worker, Cheryl (Zooey Deschanel), reads the messages on the PA system until one day she goes a little too far with her improv advice to the customers. She's sent to Women's Makeovers, where she performs the same act one-on-one.
Justine is married to Phil (John C. Reilly), who paints houses during the day and smokes dope and watches TV at night with his best friend, Bubba (Tim Blake Nelson). Little surprise that Justine finds herself interested in the new checkout kid, who tells her his name is Holden and he's reading Catcher In The Rye: go figure. She doesn't.
Within a week or two she will find out that Holden is really Tom (Jake Gyllenhaal), a dropout with a drinking problem; and within even less time he and Justine are heavily involved.
When they meet at a cheap motel, they're sprung by Bubba. Bubba cuts a deal with Justine: sex for silence.
Justine's two- and then three-timing can only end one way, but even then there is a twist, as she and Phil try to sort out their differences, which by that stage will involve another party, the child she is expecting, and a tricky question: who is the father?
DVD features: movie (93min); scene-specific commentary by Jennifer Aniston; commentary by director Miguel Arteta; 9 deleted scenes with optional commentary; alternate ending montage; gags and bloopers.
