The Good Girl - Plot

Plot

Sadness and boredom involves the life of Justine Last. A 30-year old woman, who has a meaningless job as a make-over assistant at a downscale discount retail store, is married to Phil (John C. Reilly), a house painter who spends his free time getting high with his friend Bubba (Tim Blake Nelson). Although she and Phil are trying to have a baby to improve their lives, Justine feels like she is trapped in a dead-end world.

She begins to make friends with the Retail Rodeo new cashier, Thomas "Holden" Worther. The 22-year old aspiring novelist writer and college drop out who still lives with his parents has something in common with Justine: They both have lives they don't want for them. He calls himself Holden because he always has his nose on a copy of The Catcher in the Rye, with which he identifies.

Justine develops feelings for the unusual personality of Holden, but when he tries to kiss her, she doesn't let him, thinking about her husband (even though she hates him), and Holden doesn't show up for work the next day. Instead, he sends a letter to Justine proclaiming his love for her and to meet her at 5 p.m., otherwise she will never hear from him again. That day, Gwen Jackson (Deborah Rush) (Justine supervisor) gets sick from food poisoning and Justine takes her into hospital, failing to be on the spot by 5, but even though she comes by 5h35, Holden appears out of nowhere and they agree to have a secret relationship, proceeding to a motel where they have sex. This gives Justine a new thrill in her life, but she gets second thoughts after she sees Bubba's pickup truck in the motel parking lot, assuming he's following her.

Corny (Mike White), the Retail Rodeo security guard, invites Phil and Justine for Bible Studies. Justine agrees to go with Phil, but sees the motel recepcionist on the way to Bible Studies as well, and backs away, leaving Phil stunned and confused. She discovers that Gwen died from the food poisoning, and that Bubba really knows about her and Holden. This leaves Justine guilty for not give the right attention for Gwen disease and for her husband.

Concerned about her marriage, Justine agrees to have sex with Bubba after he blackmails her for discovering her affair with Holden, but Holden sees everything, and confronts Justine after work, highly drunk, calling her a hooker for betraying him. Justine begins to worry upon discovering Holden's real personality, as an unstable, obsessive, immature boy. Thinking about ditching him, she buys blackberries of the road for him, despite the fact of why Gwen had food poisoning in the first place, by eating bad blackberries, which contained parasites. He starts to eat them, but feeling guilty, Justine throw the box away from his hand.

Several days later, Justine feels stomach cramps and her breasts begin swelling; when she has a pregnancy test, she's confronted by Phil, and together, they see the test comes back positive, leaving Phil ecstatic, and Justine worried. She realizes that the baby is Holden's, not Phil's. Meanwhile, Holden, desperate to have Justine in his arms and wanting to begin a new life on the road together, he steals fifteen thousand dollars from the Retail Rodeo safe and his parents. Justine's manager discover Holden theft over the security cameras and asks if she's Holden accomplice, but she denies it. When Justine gives him a ride to the motel, they plan to meet before noon the next day to run away together.

Later that day, Justine walls begins to corner her when Phil receive a call from his sperm doctor and finds out that he is sterile. She convinces him that the sperm test is wrong, but he finds finds charges for the motel on their credit card bill and asks Justine if she's having an affair behind his back. When she responds positively, he slaps her across the face and breaks down. Asking her if the baby really his, Justine convinces him once again that the baby is Phil's, even though she's lying. She lies once again when Phil asks who is the another man, but feeling concerned about Holden, she tells him that it was Corny, when she realizes that he was the one spying on her and Holden in the store deposit through the security cameras.

Having another second thoughs about having a new life with Holden, she warns the Retail Rodeo manager and the police about Holden's location. When he realizes that he's surrounded, he commits suicide, much to her surprise. Corny shows up a work with a broken arm and several bruises, but Justine ignores it.

Justine decides to stay with Phil, and together they try to have a decent life with their new baby daughter.