Film: The Goodbye Girl

Director: Herbert Ross
Genre: Comedy
Source: USA (1977)
Rating: PG
Location/Format: Turner Classic Movies
Grade: B

An enjoyable little romantic comedy that is probably remembered more fondly than it needs to be due to a real fireball performance by Richard Dreyfuss. He is funny, appealing, self-deprecating, and energetic, and it's easy to see why it would be an Oscar winning performance (though more on the "people's favorite" side of the Oscars than on the "greatest performances" side, if you know what I mean). 

The relationship Dreyfuss's Elliot and Marsha Mason's Paula is pretty standard fare, and not particularly compelling, but Elliot's relationship with Paula's daughter Lucy is really were the spark is. Dreyfuss plays Elliot just right as that rare kind of adult who just genuinely does see this kid as a real and interesting little human being, rather than as a "kid" (if that makes sense) and it gives their rapport both a precociousness and a seriousness that work.

Much of the movie feels pretty contemporary (though the "gay Richard III" seems awfully homophobic-panic-like now) and Ross does a good job both working writer Neil Simon's clever dialogue and getting the movie out of the apartment in which I imagine most of the play was set. Not all directors do that, but this feels like a movie, not just like a play adaptation, and that's a good thing.

For me, however, Marsha Mason was a bit of a misstep (though I may be in the minority here, seeing as how she was also nominated for an Oscar). She was Simon's wife at the time, but I thought she was a little too big in her performance--mugging a little too often, gasping a little too loudly in the "she's out of shape and working out!" scenes. It wasn't wince-inducing, it just felt a little heavy handed.

There's nothing great or weighty here, but it's a nice little romantic comedy. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

Alternate Film Title: "Between This and The Odd Couple, Neil Simon Must Have Had Some Terrible Roommates"