The Goodbye Girl (1977)

This was my first real look at Richard Dreyfuss. Of course, I remembered him from "American Graffitti." But here he plays a more defined character. Dreyfuss shows up at the door of Marsha Mason (Mrs. Neil Simon) and demands her apartment. Her estranged husband let the place to this guy, not considering for a second that she and her daughter were still living there. To be civil, she reluctantly allows the young actor to use a room. He has every right to be there, but they need to compromise until she can find another place. Of course, that other place isn't happening. Soon, the two of them begin to have a turbulent relationship. He has the upper hand and starts making demands. Meanwhile, he has been cast off Broadway as "Richard III." His director is a nutcase, forcing him into an interpretation of "Richard" that drives him crazy. We know this is a love story and we can't help watching the chemistry of these two fine actors. Over the years, I realized that Dreyfus sort of played the same role over and over. His own personality always shone through. This is Neil Simon and is a very worthy film. Loved it.

I hate rom-coms. I really do. I hate their predictability. I hate the two dimensional characters. I hate how dated they usually are (I'm looking at you, "You Got Mail"). I just can't stand them. Every so often, though, a romantic comedy comes along that doesn't keep my eyes rolling for an hour and a half. One where the characters aren't cardboard cutouts of actual human beings. One that's actually able to pull at my heart strings and let out the inner romantic. The Goodbye Girl is one of those movies.The complaint I had with the film was the Lucy McFadden character played by Quinn Cummings. To be fair, I thought she showed a good range of emotions and as the movie progressed I actually started to like her. At the start of the movie, though, she was not a welcomed presence. Her over precociousness made her seem like a Tatum O'Neil wanna be. Lucy McFadden is kind of like taking a dip in a pool really early in the morning. At first, it feels harsh but it warms up to you as you stay a little while longer.The movie does have a lot of the clichés we've come to hate about rom-coms. It has the "strong woman" with the heart of ice. It has the quirky love interest that melts aforenamed heart of ice. It has the wildly unlikely circumstances leading up to the wildly unlikely romance and the big city backdrop, but somehow it just works. I don't know why or how, but it just does. I thought Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason had great performances and I thought Elliot Garfield and Paula McFadden were likable characters. Is it my favorite movie of all time? No. Is it a bit of an Odd Couple rip off? Yes (though I guess that sort of thing works for Neil Simon). Did it give me that warm, fuzzy feeling rom-coms are supposed to give you (but so often fail to do)? Absolutely.

The Goodbye Girl is a well-paced and bright romantic comedy from the 1970's which also reflects the lifestyle and social currents of that decade, sandwiched between 60's idealism and 80's materialism. This might sound glib but for me, it fits neatly in that period when young people were coping with disappointments and heartache as they tried to build lives for themselves. The script and the acting are funny, sad and entertaining throughout.The repartee between Marsha Mason and Richard Dreyfuss sparkles as the two people who are forced to accept each other as roommates, only because of economic necessity. One is a granola-eating guy from Chicago who meditates and exercises as he tries to make it in the New York theatre scene. The young woman is a single mother who has been abandoned by her common-law husband and tries to return to dancing. The music of Bread evokes the soft rock of the decade. We see Marsha Mason working as a sales girl for a Japanese car company in an era before Japanese cars were commonplace. Before gay rights became part of the social agenda, Richard Dreyfuss takes on the role of Richard II in a way that a 1970's audience felt was more like their home decorator or hairdresser. It all seems a bit dated and predictable; however, with the acting of Mason and Dreyfus and the brilliant script from Neil Simon, it still entertains and resonates with audiences.

I bought this on DVD as I wondered what all those academy nominations were about. But I should know that things like Slumdog Millionaire win and Benjamin B gets nominated. I hope they pass into the dim awards history base of time as swiftly as this and that no-one digs them up out of curiosity either. Twee. Predictable. Twee. Unengagingly twee. Puffed up, padded and unsympathetically dreyfussian tweedle twaddle. You know what will happen at the very start. You can only continue by fooling yourself that the journey will be worth the clichéd destination. You think that the clever clever child will be bearable not predictably irritating. But it is all self-deception in relation to this stagey piece. And I remember 1977 - it wasn't this corny, it wasn't even that bad that it needed characterless saccharin to make it better.