The Good Night cover art

The Good Night Details

2007 Certificate 15
  • Rated:
  • 50
  • from 3172 members

Jake Paltrow directs his sister Gwyneth in this take on the midlife crisis. Gary (Martin Freeman) was once riding high as the member of a successful pop band. Now, seven years later, the band is no more and he pays the bills by composing mediocre music for commercials. To further add to his unhappiness, his relationship with .. Read more

Starring Michael Gambon, Martin Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Keith Allen
Director Giles Nuttgens, Jake Paltrow
Genres Comedy, Drama, Romance

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The Good Night

Jake Paltrow directs his sister Gwyneth in this take on the midlife crisis. Gary (Martin Freeman) was once riding high as the member of a successful pop band. Now, seven years later, the band is no more and he pays the bills by composing mediocre music for commercials. To further add to his unhappiness, his relationship with his girlfriend, Dora (Paltrow), appears to be on its last legs. The only thing Gary looks forward to anymore is sleeping--so that he might have a reoccurring dream about a beautiful mystery woman he calls Anna (Penelope Cruz). He even goes so far as to take dream workshops taught by a scruffy eccentric named Mel (Danny Devito), in the hopes of prolonging his experiences in his subconscious. He soon becomes obsessed with escaping into his dreamworld, and his real life begins to fall apart. Depressed and confused, he finally has a revelatory dream wherein he realizes he needs to make a major change and return to reality. He plots a grand romantic gesture to get his life back on track, but the plan backfires with rather shocking and tragic results.


Martin Freeman gives an endearing performance as the befuddled Gary, and Gwyneth Paltrow is splendidly obnoxious as the nagging, frowning Dora. Viewers should take note, while THE GOOD NIGHT is billed as a romantic comedy, it's definitely not standard fare. It certainly has its share of laughs and feel good moments, but it also has some pretty dark undertones that one doesn't usually find in the rom-com genre.

Starring Michael Gambon, Martin Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Keith Allen, Bill Johnson, Donna Gigliotti, Simon Pegg, Danny DeVito
Director Giles Nuttgens, Jake Paltrow
Studio MOMENTUM PICTURES
Run time DVD: 1 hr 29 mins
Certificate Certificate 15
Collections New releases
Genres Comedy, Drama, Romance
Language DVD: English
Released DVD: 26 May 2008
Production year: 2007
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (3) of The Good Night

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  • Few will be able to resist Martin Freeman's appealing lead turn or the wry Brit wit that gives this fanciful confection a robust comic core

    • Variety
  • 1 stars out of

    Garys been seeing the woman of his dreams, then wakes up and curses each day he spends toiling away on promo... read more on Time Out

    • Trevor Johnston, 
    • Time Out
  • Most helpful member's review of The Good Night

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  • 13 out of 13 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 2 stars

    Very slow......zzzzzzzz

    I wouldn't recommend this movie, it was very slow moving and although the storyline had potential it never amounted to much. I was tempted to walk out the cinema halfway, which a few other people did, but curiousity to see the ending got the better of me! A pity because the cast were pretty good.

      • A customer from Chislehurst
  • Most recent members' review of The Good Night

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  • 2 out of 3 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 1 star [Highly rated reviewer]

    One of the worst movies I've ever seen,

    One of the worst movies I've ever seen. There's not much movement in the plot if any, so it's basically BORING. The only good thing I could think of in this movie is the music... and also the fact that it takes place in NYC and that's always a nice place to see.

    The idea that some very known and talented people have worked on makes it even harder to catch how could they get such a lousy result. I guess it's the bad scrip at the end. It's always funny to see how these kinds of films can end up with a good trailer. The idea behind the movie seemed nice as well... I was SoOOoOO disappointed.

    At the bottom line, a waste of time! Also what a waste of good actors !!!!!!

      • crockery from Belfast
  • News and features

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    The Good Night

    Martin Freeman Interview: The Good Night

    • 18 Jan 2008

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Rating breakdown

3,172 Member ratings
  • 100
63
  • 90
26
  • 80
198
  • 70
207
  • 60
672
  • 50
455
  • 40
639
  • 30
226
  • 20
503
  • 10
183

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    • Jake Paltrow directs his sister Gwyneth in this take on the midlife crisis. Gary (Martin Freeman) was once riding high as the member of a successful pop band. Now, seven years later, the band is no ...