Fine: A Good Girl (2002)
One of Jennifer Aniston's best movies and the most underrated, both then and now. Directed by Miguel Arteta and written by Mike White (School of Rock), it was applauded by critics but failed to be a box office success, not even with the fame that the actress had gained in Friends.
Aniston plays Justine Last, a woman dissatisfied with her marriage and her job as a sales clerk at a discount store in a remote town. Justine begins to make morally questionable decisions when she starts an affair with a stock boy played by Jake Gyllenhaal, and the rest is history. Her work as an actress is wonderful and so is the movie.
Bad: My Girlfriend Polly (2004)
Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller star in this stereotype-ridden romantic comedy where nothing quite clicks: he, a slack, maniacal businessman whose wife has just left for someone else. She is a chaotic woman who forgets to feed her chaotic pet. A film of absurd entanglement and humor, it's not unbearable but it doesn't manage to stand out for anything either: something cliché and without much chemistry, one of Jennifer Aniston's collaborations with director Peyton Reed (a classic of the genre that has seen better titles).
Good: Dumplin' (2018)
Jennifer Aniston stays in a polite but noticeable background in Dumplin', Dolly Parton's song-driven sentimental comedy that focuses instead on the story of her fictional daughter, played by Danielle Macdonald: an overweight young woman who rebels against his mother (Aniston), an American beauty queen, and enters the contest to change the canons. A sweet, tender, and intelligent film made with great taste by all involved and a complex and discreet casting decision.
Mal: Happy Mother's Day (2016)
From director Gary Marshall, one of those utterly commercial collages designed around a holiday that fails to overcome its premise and results in a simple and unremarkable film: from the creators of Valentine's Day (2010) and New Year's Day (2011) ), another choral film full of Hollywood stars (Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Jason Sudeikis, Timothy Olyphant or Jennifer Garner among others) in which Jennifer Aniston appears, probably, for little more than money. A low-risk decision that does not help to relaunch her career in any way.
Good: Office Tangles (1999)
This black comedy, titled in English Office Space, has become a cult classic over time: although it didn't sweep theaters when it was released on video it had a lot of pull. It is a satire of corporate and business life in which Jennifer Aniston plays a waitress who does not appreciate her bosses and who falls for the other protagonist, played by Ron Livingston, based on their mutual contempt for her workplace of hers. It was shot in between seasons of Friends and remains fresh and well-written.
Evil: Out of Control (2005)
We must admit to Jennifer Aniston that when she has tried to disengage and do something different, it has not worked out for her. In 2005 she appeared in this dramatic thriller opposite Clive Owen about a romantic affair gone wrong, whose secrecy is threatened when they both witness a crime. The two protagonists have a lot of chemistry, but the script only received boos and laughter from critics and the public who maintained that no, there was nowhere to take it.
Regular: Go With It (2011)
Jennifer Aniston's films with Adam Sandler are perfectly representative of what her career has become: comedies in which she occupies a reasonably prominent role but whose gags get old quickly and don't stick out in the memory for more than weeks. after the premiere. In Just Go With It, Sandler plays a plastic surgeon who always pretends to be married to avoid commitment and who decides to hire her assistant, Aniston, to pretend that he and her children are part of her family. A remake of Flor de cactus (Cactus Flower, 1969), an Ingrid Bergman film, is cute and distinctive, but it doesn't go beyond that either.
