Very Good Girls
Very Good Girls is a 2013 American drama film and the first feature film directed by American screenwriter Naomi Foner, whose script for drama Running on Empty was Oscar-nominated. First screened publicly in early 2013, the film stars Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen as two friends who fall for the same man (Boyd Holbrook). The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2013; it was given release on home formats on June 24, 2014.
| Very Good Girls | |
|---|---|
 Official movie poster | |
| Directed by | Naomi Foner |
| Produced by | Norton Herrick Michael London Mary Jane Skalski Janice Williams |
| Written by | Naomi Foner |
| Starring | Dakota Fanning Elizabeth Olsen Boyd Holbrook Demi Moore Richard Dreyfuss Ellen Barkin Peter Sarsgaard Clark Gregg |
| Music by | Jenny Lewis[1] |
| Cinematography | Bobby Bukowski |
| Edited by | Andrew Hafitz Devin Maurer |
Production company | Groundswell Productions Herrick Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Tribeca Film |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $6,940[3] |
The supporting cast includes Demi Moore, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Barkin, Clark Gregg, and Peter Sarsgaard. The film was produced by Norton Herrick, Michael London, and Mary Jane Skalski.
Plot
Best friends Lilly and Gerri spend their last summer in New York together. At Brighton Beach, they muse about swimming nude before Gerri suddenly takes off her shirt and runs into the water, followed by Lilly. On their way back home, they meet David, a guy selling ice cream. After an awkward conversation, David takes a picture of Lilly from the back. Upon coming back home, Lilly sees her father kissing another woman in the office. She takes comfort in spending the evening with Gerri's family, who are loud and open in contrast to Lilly's stony mother and absent father. The girls talk and vow to lose their virginity before leaving for college.
As Lilly walks to work as a boat tour guide in Manhattan, David watches from a distance. He shows interest in her which she doesn't tell Gerri about, while Gerri exhibits an affection for him despite the lack of reciprocation, and despite neither girl knowing him well. David asks Lilly out, and she agrees.
Lilly's mother learns about her father's affair and asks him to leave, against Lilly's wishes. She begins to hang out with David and they kiss. Gerri invites David to an open mic night where she sings a song she wrote for him, while out of her sight, David takes Lilly's hand and holds it under the table.
Lilly's boss flirts with her, offering lucrative night shifts with an obvious implication. As she's walking home, Lilly sees David waiting outside her house; they kiss and have sex in the garage. The next morning Lilly runs into her father who apologizes for the affair and asks her to have dinner with him, which she declines. Afterward, David sneaks in through the bathroom window. They shower together before spending the day flocking around the city. They arrive at a basketball court where a stylishly dressed man strips to his underwear and dances ballet liberatingly. The kids join him while the video pans out in a bird's eye view.
Later in the evening, Lilly learns that Gerri's father died after suddenly collapsing in the subway. She leaves David to be with a despairing Gerri. Sharing Gerri's grief encourages Lilly to ask her mother to forgive her father. Gerri confides in Lilly that she can't stop thinking about David. Guiltily, Lilly rejects David's attempts to meet again. He confronts her and she rebuffs him, asking him to meet up with Gerri, but is dismayed when David complies. He comforts Gerri and they kiss in her backyard garden, which Lilly sees.
At her father's memorial service, Gerri tells Lilly that she lost her virginity to David, which prompts Lilly to go see her boss and agree to his advances. They kiss in the tour boat, but then Lilly changes her mind. However, when she confronts David about having sex with Gerri and he does not respond, she lies and tells him she had sex with her boss. The next day, Lilly finds her parents cooking in the kitchen and is surprised that her mother has forgiven her father. David shows up and claims he didn't sleep with Gerri, and Lilly storms off.
Time passes before Gerri tells Lilly that David is leaving for Paris, and Lilly finds him, admitting to him that she didn't sleep with her boss. Angry, David warns her to stop manipulating other people's feelings but still kisses her goodbye before leaving in a cab. As Lilly walks away, Gerri confronts her furiously, having followed her overheard their conversation.
Lilly makes amends with her father and he advises her to ask Gerri for forgiveness, saying people will always surprise you, but she does not take his advice. The morning before Lilly leaves for college, Gerri comes over with a photograph of Lilly that David took of her dancing on the basketball court, saying it was his way of making sure the photo got to her before she left. Lilly tells her it is his way of making sure the girls saw each other before she left. Gerri reveals she never actually had sex with David, she asked him to but he told her he was already in love with someone else. The two girls make up and take off their clothes to dance in the sprinklers.
Cast
- Dakota Fanning as Lilly Berger
- Elizabeth Olsen as Gerri Fields
- Boyd Holbrook as David Avery
- Demi Moore as Kate, Gerri's Mother
- Richard Dreyfuss as Danny, Gerri's father
- Ellen Barkin as Norma, Lilly's mother
- Clark Gregg as Edward, Lilly's father
- Kiernan Shipka as Eleanor, Lilly's sister
- Peter Sarsgaard as Fitzsimmons, Lilly's summertime job boss
Production
Production company Herrick Entertainment announced on July 20, 2012, that principal photography had begun in New York City.[1] Herrick was producing and financing the project, with Michael London's Groundswell Productions also producing.[1]
Shooting locations included Ditmas Park, Brooklyn.[5]
Cast-member Peter Sarsgaard is the son-in-law of writer-director Naomi Foner, who is the mother of his wife, Maggie Gyllenhaal.
In January 2012, Anton Yelchin was in final negotiations to play a role in the film, but he is not listed in the final cast and was replaced with Boyd Holbrook.[4]
Release
The film was released on June 6, 2014 through iTunes, Amazon Video, Vudu, and VOD. The film started a limited theatrical release in the United States on July 25, 2014.[6]
Reception
The film received negative reviews from critics. It has accumulated a 19% rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 36 reviews. The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "a limp directing debut" for Foner. The film's outdated "counter-culture" sensibilities made it appear "frozen in time". It found the characters unconvincing, criticizing the "artificiality" of the love interest who asks the lead character to "read a couple of lines of Sylvia Plath before their first kiss".[7] We Got This Covered called the film "insincere from bottom to top," expressing disappointment that "its innate lousiness" deflated the dramatic efforts of its leads.[8] Variety criticized the "really bad" drama, particularly the "vapid and clichéd" screenplay. "This all-around misfire ... may go directly to home formats."[9]
References
- "Principal Photography Begins on 'Very Good Girls'" (Press release). Herrick Entertainment. July 20, 2012. Archived from the original on November 24, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
- "Very Good Girls". Tribeca Film. Tribeca Film. Retrieved 2013-06-24.
- "Very Good Girls - Box Office Mojo". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- Fleming, Mike, Jr. (January 21, 2012). "Sundance: Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen, Anton Yelchin Lead Naomi Foner's 'Very Good Girls'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
- "In Photos: Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen are 'Very Good Girls' in Brooklyn". On Location Vacations. July 6, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
- "Tribeca". Tribeca. Tribeca Film. Retrieved 2014-06-24.
- Rooney, David. "Very Good Girls: Sundance Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
- Feldberg, Isaac. "Very Good Girls Review". We Got This Covered.
- Alissa Simon (23 January 2013). "Review: 'Very Good Girls'". Variety.