Review of The Goodbye Girl (1977) by Ben L — 02 Nov 2017

I've always been fond of Neil Simon's writing, because he has a flair for injecting comedy into otherwise mundane stories. It especially works when those great words are put into the mouth of someone like Richard Dreyfuss.

He is the magic that makes The Goodbye Girl such an enjoyable film to watch. I love when Dreyfuss is in full comedy mode and he's cracking jokes, but he also excels when he is going for the romantic scenes.

Marsha Mason is not bad as the other lead, although in another movie I would probably find her performance to be a bit grating on my nerves. She does nag and whine more than I would like, but it fits with her character and what she has gone through.

The mix of comedy and romance seems to be in equal measure in this movie, and it never falls into what I would call traditional Hollywood cheesiness. It's a very simple story of two people who are thrust together through circumstances out of their control, who hate one another at first, and eventually develop that into love.

Meanwhile they are both struggling in their careers, and with taking care of a little girl. It doesn't have much nuance, and doesn't keep you guessing what will happen. However, I don't mind when movies are simple, straightforward, and predictable when they make me feel so good.

I get a nice warm and fuzzy feeling from watching The Goodbye Girl, and thanks to a great writer and a great actor it is elevated above lame TV movies that attempt the same thing.