The Good Night

R

Released Oct 5, 2007

1 hr. 33 min.

Comedy

Drama

Romance

List

30%

43 Reviews

Tomatometer

33%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Gary (Martin Freeman), a musician, is trapped in an unhappy relationship with his live-in lover, Dora (Gwyneth Paltrow). He becomes enthralled with a beautiful seductress (Penélope Cruz) 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.

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Critics Consensus

That The Good Night is the work of a first-time writer/director is apparent, as the story feels disjointed and never connects with the audience.

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Red T

What was That….This film has a horrifically bad editing problem. First it's about Gary's life, then the dreams, then Paul and then at the end it goes completely off the rails and loses all focus on the last 25 minutes and is an incoherent mess. Then It wasn't clear until about halfway I realized this is TRYING to be a Comedy….I think. This film has a terrible tone problem where I'm not sure if it's trying to be a Psychological Drama or Dark Comedy. Either way the humor never works once and is so confusing. The music isn't good either. It's generic, forgettable but most of all it's not clear what the mood is supposed to reflect most of the time when it's used. The cinematography is well shot half the time but it's weighed down by unmemorable locations, unclear scenes as to what's happening, and the lighting is very lifeless and dull. It's terrible overall because of how unclear scenes are more than anything half the time and what the point is to the story. The acting is the strongest part and that's saying a lot because it's not good. Gary has no charm, no humor even from Simon Pegg even works, Gweneth is terribly unlikeable. Cruz is the just ok and she's the best thing unfortunately. This all leads to horrifically bad pacing, especially in the final act where it goes off the rails. I thought in the middle it was finally starting to tell a cohesive story with Cruz & Freeman meeting in real life but it wasn't clear what the payoff of that was in the end. Skip this. It's mind boggling how incoherent this is. This feels like this should've came out in 1974.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

07/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I could only watch half an hour of this disjointed mess. What possessed so many well-known actors to appear in this rubbish is beyond me!

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Has some interesting ideas, but kinda bungles the execution, especially in the third act, where things are played for pathos that just haven't been developed at all; like, were we supposed to feel sad that he was gonna stop using his dream sex-slave? Or happy that he was trying to win back his horrible wife? However, Paltrow has a nice rhythm to his scenes, even if his pacing overall is bad, and I liked the actors (Cruz is great, especially in the real-life scenes, and Freeman and Pegg made me laugh).

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A film with a very interesting concept that unfortunately never fully develops. In some ways intriguing & in others sadly boring. The performances & cinematography make this film enjoyable but unfortunately once the film ends there's no payoff. You're left either wanting something from the film or angry for even expecting more.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

Full Review

Audience Member

weird and no intriguing film!

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I actually enjoyed The Good Night, mostly thanks to the strong cast involved and the fact that the subject material is very intriguing. While I wasn't all too impressed with Gwyneth Paltrow, I found Martin Freeman and Penelope Cruz to be utterly fantastic in their respective roles. Despite the repetitiveness of the first half of the film, I still found it quite compelling and the characters relatable in some way, shape, or form; I also actually really liked the slow pacing of the film and especially the events leading to its conclusion - this is where the great soundtrack and Paltrow's filming technique truly flourish (although I have to say one of the scenes in the end made me jump). For a first time director, I thought Jake Paltrow did an exceptional job; sure, The Good Night is nothing groundbreaking, but it offers some interesting insight on dreams as well as a slow moving yet altogether satisfying story.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

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Jake Paltrow

Director

Penélope Cruz

Anna

Martin Freeman

Gary

Gwyneth Paltrow

Dora

Simon Pegg

Paul

Danny DeVito

Mel

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Nigel Andrews

Financial Times

[A] witless whimsy.

Feb 4, 2015

Full Review

Tom Beer

Time Out

Rated: 3/5

Nov 16, 2011

Full Review

Amy Nicholson

I.E. Weekly

Writer-director Jake Paltrow's (yes, brother of Gwennie) debut feature is exquisitely romantic, painful, and riotous; everyone's lonely and going about it wrong.

Rated: A

Feb 3, 2008

Full Review

Amber Wilkinson

Eye for Film

Flawed, but with enough interest to suggest Jake Paltrow may be one to keep an eye out for in future.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 13, 2008

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...a low-key yet consistently engaging effort...

Rated: 3/4

May 12, 2008

Full Review

Prairie Miller

NewsBlaze

This sleepyhead Prince Charming is in for a rude awakening when the choosy, chain smoking Anna, actual female that she is, finds him an annoying loser, and at best undesirable. Au revoir, unconditional love. Someone wake me when it's over.

Mar 30, 2008

Full Review

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Synopsis

Gary (Martin Freeman), a musician, is trapped in an unhappy relationship with his live-in lover, Dora (Gwyneth Paltrow). He becomes enthralled with a beautiful seductress (Penélope Cruz) 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
Executive Producer: Jim Seibel, Robert Whitehouse, Oliver Hengst, Ernst-August Schneider
Screenwriter: Jake Paltrow
Distributor: Yari Film Group
Production Co: Grosvenor Park Productions
Rating: R (Some Sexual Content|Language)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 5, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 26, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $22.2K

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