Directed by: Herbert Ross
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Quinn Cummings, Paul Benedict
Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl is a light, witty, and ultimately very funny romantic comedy. It stars Richard Dreyfuss in his Oscar-winning role as Elliott Garfield, an actor forced to share a New York apartment with the ex-girlfriend of the man who sublet the apartment to him. Paula McFadden's (Mason, Simon's wife at the time) day starts out horribly. Her live-in actor boyfriend dumps her to go make a film in Italy, leaving her and her daughter Lucy (Cummings) to fend for themselves. Later that night, a bearded stranger knocks on their door claiming to have sublet the apartment. He's drenched from downpouring rain and didn't expect any complications to his living arrangements.
After a few minutes of verbal sparring, the two come to an agreement and Elliott is allowed to stay. Things don't go easily at first. Elliott is an actor himself, working on an off-Broadway production of Richard III that is unlike any ever made. He also meditates loudly at 6am and otherwise bugs Paula with his very existence. Lucy likes him, however, and acts as the catalyst to bring them together romantically, which is to be expected.
The Goodbye Girl has a lot of inspired humor, including the aforementioned Richard III production in which Elliott is forced to play the character as an over-the-top, almost stereotypical homosexual. "Let's not be afraid to be bold," says Mark (Benedict), the director of the production which is almost assured to end in disaster. Elliott isn't fond of the play either: "Gay liberation is going to hang me from Shakespeare's statue by my genitalia." Dreyfuss plays Elliott with exuberant energy and a true ear for Simon's dialogue. He plays a guy who loves being himself and thinks nothing of playing guitar naked in the middle of the night. His response to Paula when she complains: "Take two sleeping pills and stick one in each ear."
Simon's script is chock full of witticisms and one-liners. Are normal people this quick on their feet? Probably not, but it sure makes for an entertaining repartee between Dreyfuss and Mason. Things get complicated (or perhaps uncomplicated) when Elliott and Paula fall in love. I wasn't entirely convinced by them as a couple. They fall in love because the script tells them they should, but I just wasn't feeling it between them.
However, I didn't allow that to lessen my experience of watching the movie. It's a smart comedy. I enjoyed it and I enjoyed the actors having a ball with Simon's dialogue. Yet, it wouldn't have bothered me in the least if Paula and Elliott simply wound up as close friends.
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