The Goodbye Girl
THE GOODBYE GIRLÂ (PG)
D:Â Herbert Ross
MGM (Ray Stark)
USA 🇺🇸 1977
110 mins
Â
Comedy/Romance
Â
W:Â Neil Simon
DP: David M. Walsh
Ed: John F. Burnett
Mus: Dave Grusin
Â
Richard Dreyfuss (Elliott
Garfield), Marsha Mason (Paula McFadden), Quinn Cummings (Lucy MacFadden), Paul Benedict (Mark Morgenweiss), Barbara Rhodes (Donna Douglas), Theresa
Merritt (Mrs. Crosby)
Â
It's The Odd Couple again, from the same screenwriter
Neil Simon, and while the plot isn't completely original, the dialogue still feels fresh and the performances make a very funny and enjoyable watch.
A lettings misunderstanding over the lease of an
apartment results in an up-and-coming actor (Dreyfuss) and a theatrical dancer (Mason) and her young daughter (Cummings) having to house share.Â
They despise each other at first, but a relationship
soon develops between them.
The on-screen chemistry between the two leads is
absolute gold, though they're both nearly upstaged by the prepubescent Quinn Cummings as Mason's daughter, who gets the majority of the funniest dialogue.
Neil Simon knows what works and what doesn't, and
while the plotting isn't too dissimilar from his previous work, perhaps he also knows that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
8/10
