"The Good Night" - Film

Spectacular and Un-fucking-believably awesome

Those are the words that come to my mind when describing my thoughts about this movie. Recently had a chance to watch this film, originally created for the Sundance Film Festival, and come away as a new person. Perhaps that a bit melodramatic, but honestly, this is one of those films that reflected not only my life, but also many of my thoughts about life. And that happens, well, hardly ever. The last film to make such an impact on me was "The Constant Gardener".

"The Good Night" is just a spectacular film; a real piece of artwork; a masterpiece if you will.

Writing a decent review for such a film is especially hard as I feel compelled to give the whole story away and tell you what each and every scene meant to me.

Nevertheless, below is my attempt at giving you at balanced (and un-revealing) review.

The story starts off with Gary (played by the fabulous Martin Freeman) who was once a member of an English rock-band - which broke up long ago - and is currently directing music for television adverts with his best friend (and band mate), Paul (played by "Shawn of the Dead's" Simon Pegg). Experiencing what he believes to be a mid-life crisis, a lifeless and dead-end job and a personal relationship - with Dora (played by Gweneth Paltrow) - slowly crumbling apart, Gary looks towards to his dreams as the perfect escape. In his spectacular dreams, he's one who has everything - happiness, health and a girlfriend (played by Penelope Cruz) who cares as much about him as he does about her. Wanting to further experience his dreams and detachment from reality, Gary soon goes to see Mel (played by Danny Devito) to learn how to control his dreams.

Frankly, I cannot tell you anymore with the fear of ruining the story. One thing that I can tell you is that it's no fairy tale, particularly the ending. It's not happy, quite shocking and ironic. There is one particular scene which is just amazing and that's the one where Devito's character states the man who can find --BLANK-- sleep will forever be the happiest man in the world. It's a quote which by the time the movie ends, is spine-chilling and ultimately, upsetting.

Also worth mentioning is that aside from the well crafted, well directed and well-written story thanks to Jake Paltrow (Gweneth's brother) - the acting in this movie is on another level. Firstly, this is the first movie where I actually liked Danny Devito and that's saying something considering the guy usually bothers me like a wasp, but in this movie they could not have chosen anyone better. Mrs. Paltrow continues to show her versatility and talent at playing any part she's hired for; Simon Pegg continues to portray his cynical and hot-shot attitude he's most famous for and Penelope Cruz plays her part as one would expect (fabulously).

The acting performance from all of these actors is just fantastic, but you know what? None of them can touch Martin Freeman, he's an absolute master and surely one of the best actors anywhere. I first saw Martin Freeman as "Tim" in the original version of "The Office" and thought he was just spectacular, and then I saw him in "Breaking and Entering" and thought he was even more impressive. And now, after watching his spectacular (I've used that world a whole lot, haven't I?) performance in this movie, I'm even more convinced he's one of the best actors to ever grace the silver screen. Come to think of it, I'd say that he's currently my favourite actor.

His acting abilities are uncanny; his presence undeniable. He's born natural.

To this end, should you enjoy off beat films, you oughta see this one!

Verdict: Excellent off-beat film, with superb acting and an important message
10/10