{"id":78633,"date":"2021-12-11T12:11:33","date_gmt":"2021-12-11T19:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=78633"},"modified":"2023-09-24T13:15:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T20:15:10","slug":"goodbye-girl-the-1977","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=78633","title":{"rendered":"Goodbye Girl, The (1977)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t like him if I <em>liked<\/em> him!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Poster-197x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-78634\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Poster-197x300.png 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Poster-674x1024.png 674w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Poster-84x128.png 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Poster-178x270.png 178w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Poster.png 731w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen her boyfriend suddenly leaves one night and sublets their apartment, a woman (Marsha Mason) and her ten-year-old daughter (Quinn Cummings) find themselves living with an aspiring actor (Richard Dreyfuss) who grates on Mason&#8217;s nerves &#8212; but can the trio eventually learn to get along?\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Actors and Actresses<\/li>\n<li>Herbert Ross Films<\/li>\n<li>Marsha Mason Films<\/li>\n<li>Neil Simon Films<\/li>\n<li>Richard Dreyfuss Films<\/li>\n<li>Romantic Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Single Mothers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nRichard Dreyfuss became the youngest actor (at age 30) to win a Leading Role Oscar for his performance in this adaptation (directed by Herbert Ross) of an original screenplay by Neil Simon. The central idea originated between Simon and his then-wife Mason as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/14932\/the-goodbye-girl#articles-reviews?articleId=467164\">a funny love story between smart people, hearkening back to the days of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn<\/a>. It was originally entitled <em>Bogart Slept Here<\/em>, and set to be directed by Mike Nichols, star Robert De Niro, and take place in Los Angeles &#8212; but due to a variety of circumstances, it shifted gears entirely to become a NYC-based romantic comedy with a different director and lead actor. Overall, the storyline works: giving ongoing (neverending?) housing crunches in New York, the exorbitant cost of living in that city, and the narcissism of actors (yes, it&#8217;s entirely believable that Mason&#8217;s self-absorbed boyfriend would just up-and-leave the way he did), we can imagine people stuck in a situation exactly like this one. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss-Mason.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss-Mason-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-78641\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss-Mason-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss-Mason-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss-Mason-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss-Mason-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss-Mason-1536x862.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss-Mason-481x270.png 481w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss-Mason.png 1645w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The real-life individuals wouldn&#8217;t sound quite so polished and acerbic in their dialogue and come-backs, of course &#8212; but the overall tension feels real. (Who hasn&#8217;t been forced at some point to live with less-than-ideal roommates, and make some compromises?) Less convincing to me is that a single mom like Mason would allow herself to rely entirely on a (married) boyfriend for financial support in New York; we see humorous vignettes of her trying to get back in shape to perform as a dancer, but what has she been doing in the meantime?  <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Exhausted-Dancer.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Exhausted-Dancer-1024x570.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"356\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-78642\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Exhausted-Dancer-1024x570.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Exhausted-Dancer-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Exhausted-Dancer-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Exhausted-Dancer-768x428.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Exhausted-Dancer-1536x856.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Exhausted-Dancer-485x270.png 485w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Exhausted-Dancer-1038x576.png 1038w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Exhausted-Dancer.png 1657w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Eventually, of course, Mason and Dreyfuss fall for one another &#8212; and whether you buy the authenticity of their trajectory (and care for them at all) will determine your appreciation for this film. Thankfully, the young actress playing Mason&#8217;s daughter (Cummings) Lucy is natural (i.e., not-annoying): <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Lucy.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Lucy-1024x582.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"364\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-78646\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Lucy-1024x582.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Lucy-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Lucy-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Lucy-768x437.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Lucy-1536x874.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Lucy-475x270.png 475w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Lucy.png 1651w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8230; and while both Dreyfuss and Mason are somewhat manic, we&#8217;re willing to excuse this given that they&#8217;re both performers in a high-stress city. I found myself rooting for them by the end, and pleased by how things turned out. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Notable Performances, Qualities, and Moments:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Richard Dreyfuss as Elliot<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss2-1024x573.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"358\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-78637\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss2-1024x573.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss2-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss2-768x430.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss2-1536x860.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss2-482x270.png 482w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Dreyfuss2.png 1653w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Marsha Mason as Paula<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Mason.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Mason-1024x567.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"354\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-78639\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Mason-1024x567.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Mason-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Mason-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Mason-768x425.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Mason-1536x850.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Mason-488x270.png 488w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Mason-1038x576.png 1038w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Mason.png 1661w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Quinn Cummings as Lucy<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Cummings.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Cummings-1024x572.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"358\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-78638\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Cummings-1024x572.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Cummings-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Cummings-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Cummings-768x429.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Cummings-1536x858.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Cummings-483x270.png 483w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-Cummings.png 1649w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Good use of authentic NYC locales<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-NYC-Streets2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-NYC-Streets2-1024x575.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-78648\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-NYC-Streets2-1024x575.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-NYC-Streets2-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-NYC-Streets2-128x72.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-NYC-Streets2-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-NYC-Streets2-1536x863.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-NYC-Streets2-481x270.png 481w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Goodbye-Girl-NYC-Streets2.png 1661w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s worth a one-time look. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0076095\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/the-goodbye-girl\/review\/2030281890\/\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=7378\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/14932\/the-goodbye-girl#articles-reviews\">TCM Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I wouldn&#8217;t like him if I liked him!&#8221; Synopsis: When her boyfriend suddenly leaves one night and sublets their apartment, a woman (Marsha Mason) and her ten-year-old daughter (Quinn Cummings) find themselves living with an aspiring actor (Richard Dreyfuss) who grates on Mason&#8217;s nerves &#8212; but can the trio eventually learn to get along? Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Actors and Actresses Herbert Ross Films Marsha Mason Films Neil Simon Films Richard Dreyfuss Films Romantic Comedy Single Mothers Review: Richard&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=78633\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78633"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91990,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78633\/revisions\/91990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}