The Good Girl

Synopsis: The plot revolves around a young married woman whose mundane life takes a turn for the worse when she strikes up a passionate and illicit affair with an oddball discount-store stock boy who thinks he's Holden Caulfield.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director(s): Miguel Arteta
  5 wins & 16 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.5
Metacritic:
71
R
Year:
2002
93 min
598 Views


As a girl,

you see the world

like a giant candy store...

filled with sweet candy

and such.

filled with sweet candy

and such.

But one day you look around

and see a prison...

and you're on death row.

You want to run...

or scream...

or cry.

But something's

locking you up.

Are the other folks

cows chewing cud

till the hour come

when their heads roll?

Or are they just

keeping quiet like you?

Planning their escape.

On your left, honey.

What's that cashier's name?

Can't say.

When did he start

working here?

Don't know. Yesterday.

Who is he?

Don't know. Can't say.

What are you doing?

It's called work,

princess.

Kind of fun.

You might want to

give it a go some day.

Attention, shoppers.

There's a Retail Rodeo special

on aisle 3.

Liquid Drain Cleaner,

Liquid Drain Cleaner

has churning power...

and it will churn

right through your pipes.

Ladies,

you need female plumbing.

Shove something clean and new

up your filthy pipes.

That's Liquid Drain Cleaner

on aisle 3.

Have a good day...

and thank you for shopping

at Retail Rodeo.

Hey, Justine.

Can I talk to you

for a second?

Yeah.

I was just curious, uh...

have you ever been

to a Bible study?

Yeah.

Yeah, well, we got

a good one going on

every Wednesday

at the First Church

of Nazarene.

Rodney comes,

Bonita comes.

You got any interest

in reading the Bible?

I have my own,

you know, beliefs.

Well, we don't preach

fire and brimstone.

gotta live by those.

Other than

the usual ways...

we're not interested

in scaring people.

We're about loving Jesus.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I kind of like

my nights to myself.

Well, maybe you'll have

night after night

of eternal hellfire

all to yourself.

Just kidding you.

Drive safe.

Bye-bye.

Hey, Justine.

Hey, Teeny.

How was your day?

The same. How was yours?

Wind was flipping up paint

in our eyes.

Paint stings.

Feel like

I've been attacked

by hornets

in my eyeballs.

Bubba, stand up.

Why?

Oh, for Christ sakes.

Look at that couch, Phil.

Y'all got paint all over it.

This ain't gonna come off.

I bet the... Damn it, Phil.

Including this gorgeous

eggplant shape...

I think we got

most of it up.

You two were stoned.

Keep frying

your brain like that...

you're gonna

slip off a ladder

and crack open

your head bone.

You do really stupid things

when you're high, Phil.

Like what?

Like sitting on my couch

with your big blue ass.

Everything

just turns to sh*t.

We're finally getting

nice things...

and then everything

just gets messed up.

Why is this TV buzzing?

Oh, it's the wind

doing that.

They say

the wind's coming in

different lately.

Different from what?

What you reading?

Catcher in the Rye.

I'm named after it.

What's your name,

Catcher?

Holden.

After Holden Caulfield.

He's the main character.

What's he do?

He's put upon by society...

the hypocrisy of the world.

I notice that you're,

uh, not very social.

I'm a writer, so...

What do you write?

Novels, plays,

screenplays...

stories, poetry.

That's good.

Now Justine will be

right over with you.

Where is she?

Oh, I better go.

W-What happens

at the end of your book?

Oh, he has

a nervous breakdown...

goes to

a mental hospital.

Hmm.

You don't get paid

to pick your crack.

You get paid to work.

I'm not sure

I can do makeovers.

Oh, come on. A little

pancake, eyeliner...

mascara,

rouge on the cheeks...

and powder it up.

And then you take

a moist tissue...

roll it in a ball...

and toss it

in their face.

Geez Louise, I'm talking

to a tree stump, girl.

Where are you?

Sorry. I'm just

a little tired.

I'm telling you...

it's the food you eat,

Justine.

Look at me... I am

and I've got

'Cause I don't eat meat,

and I don't eat dairy.

It's probably why you can't

get pregnant, honey.

Why you walk around

with that hung-jaw look

on your face.

It's the cheese

in your pizza

and the chicken

in your salad.

I've been to the doctor.

He says I'm fertile.

Says I could repopulate

the entire planet.

Then what's the deal here?

Did he say you're

getting enough vitamins?

He didn't say.

Or you can make

a kind of paint

where,

at different angles...

the house

is different colors.

Like, you stand

at the front door...

and the house is red.

But you stand

at the street...

the house is green.

Or you could make, like,

an invisible paint.

Just make

the whole house disappear.

Or what would be really neat

is a paint that could

change the molecular structure

of a house...

like a chemical acid deal.

What do you think, Teeny?

I think you two are

a pair of potheads.

OK, you getting a whole one

of these or a half?

I'm getting that

right there.

OK, wonderful.

You didn't bring this

into the store with you?

No.

Then I'll go ahead

and charge you for it.

This is a hand lotion...

so don't put it on any

other part of your body...

even if that part

needs lubrication.

We try to keep frivolous

lawsuits to a minimum...

unless, of course,

the customer is at fault.

Do you

always wear makeup?

Oh, not very often.

Here's your change,

and f*** you very much.

Excuse me?

Thank you very much.

Good as new, I tell you.

Good as new.

Now, you might be

interested in purchasing

some of the products

that I used today...

Oh, I'm not buying

anything today.

That'd be a mistake.

These are bargain prices.

I didn't bring my purse.

I hate my job.

That makes two of us.

I hate everybody here.

I hate Gwen.

I don't know what the hell

she's so happy about.

I'm starting to understand

why maniacs go out there

and get shotguns and

shoot everybody to pieces.

Maybe you're a maniac.

Maybe so.

You know your lips

are real pouty, like a woman?

And your eyes

always look sad...

the way they droop

off to the side.

How old are you?

Uh, 22.

I'm an old lady next to you.

How old are you?

How old do you think?

I don't know.

I'm 30 years old.

How long you been

working here for?

Forever and a day.

You don't have a car?

I live down the street.

You can ride in here.

There's room.

Do you wanna come in?

I don't know.

I'm in a funk.

Well, I'm not

gonna beg you.

Well, I'm not

gonna beg you.

You got to

go there in your head...

And I did, and things

changed for me.

I'll be in my room.

OK, Tom.

I can look

over my shoulder...

figuratively speaking.

They call you Tom?

It's my slave name.

Holden's what I call myself.

This is my room.

Not a lot to look at.

What are your folks like?

They don't get me.

But they're all right.

They just...

My husband doesn't get me.

Since when do you

have a husband?

Since 7 years.

He's a painter.

What's he paint?

Houses.

He's a pig. He talks,

but he doesn't think.

I'm sick of it.

Did you go to college?

Um, I had to drop out

'cause I had a problem

with drinking and stuff...

but I'll go back.

I just got to...

prove to my folks

I can fly straight.

Did you go to college?

I was afraid

I'd lose Phil if I went.

Now it'd be

reason enough to go.

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Mike White

Michael Christopher "Mike" White is an American writer, actor and producer for television and film and the winner of the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award for Chuck & Buck. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "The Good Girl" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_good_girl_9179>.

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