The Goodbye Girl

The Goodbye GirlNow, this one was an academy award winner, and an 80 on the tomatometer. It was also a re-watch. I have always adored this movie. Looking through a more critical lens, though, I still enjoyed the movie but noticed several moments where either the script or the actors seemed much too self-aware for current audiences.

I'm not certain that this self-awareness was a flaw, or just a quirk of the movie. It had a slight distancing effect, but even Shakespeare used the self-awareness of his actors, and the subsequent distancing, for humor or insight. The actor (Richard Dreyfuss) played an actor, so that meta-ness might explain it.

The humor in this film feels natural and good-natured. Dreyfuss keeps his character full of energy and humor, and the script overflows with the linguistic wit expected of Neil Simon. The love scenes especially endear the characters, and smell sweetly of cherry-pie. The emotional difficulties and fearful/hostile reactions displayed by the mother (Marsha Mason) and her daughter provide all the necessary conflict, but they don't inhibit the freedom of feeling that so accurately reflects the age which produced this wonderful movie.

Jeff Daniels starred in a remake of this film which I have not seen, but which I plan on seeing simply for comparison. I don't expect his performance to parallel Dreyfuss's, but I do believe he has the potential to capture the same energy, despite his much larger frame. We shall see. If the made-for-TV remake flops, I may just blame it on the director. I suppose it depends on my mood at the time.

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