What with trousering £700,000 per episode of Friends, Aniston pretty much has the pick of the bunch when it comes to big-screen roles.

So it's with some surprise we see her avoiding doing a J.Lo and signing up for this low-budget but high quality small film, set amongst outsiders in off-road America.

This is no bloated vanity vehicle where the star demands the biggest trailer, has it painted white and scattered with rare orchids.

Instead, Aniston plays demure Justine, a disenchanted salesgirl at Retail Rodeo, a supermarket chain "where they try to keep frivalrous lawsuits down to a minimum".

Working alongside her are Gwen (Deborah Rush), a sparky middle-aged vegetarian, and Cheryl (Zooey Deschanel), a punkette who keeps boredom at bay by relaying double entrendres over the PA.

Also manning the tills is Holden (Donnie Darko's Gyllenhaal), the sort of adolescent who mutters to himself as he reads and re-reads JD Salinger's Catcher In The Rye.

Striking up a friendship with Justine, he tells her his real moniker - Tom - was a 'slave name' imposed by his controlling parents. He's that kinda guy.

She sees him as a passionate young maverick, whereas most of us would view him as an awkward young man full of angst and bad poetry.

However, compared to her pot-head house painter husband Phil (Reilly), he's a breath of creative fresh air and she begins an affair.

Trouble looms when Phil's buddy, Bubba (Blake Nelson), whose ideal woman is a "lesbian slut", clocks what's going on... and things get more complicated.

Blackmail, larceny, love and death follow in this offbeat but thoroughly enjoyable slice of life on the other side of the tracks.

Aniston delivers a thoughtful performance, full of nicely observed tics and gestures, while Reilly is superb as the confused cuckold.

The Good Girl is a surprisingly good movie.

Tim Evans