Product Details

• Actors: Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Quinn Cummings, Paul Benedict, Barbara Rhoades
• Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• DVD Release Date: January 18, 2000
• Run Time: 111 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00002ND7A
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,570 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Goodbye Girl" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Goodbye Girl is a bittersweet comedy about relationships and taking chances. Though it deals with the human condition, what most quickly comes to mind are those wickedly comedic scenes featuring Richard Dreyfuss in an Oscar-winning role. He plays a struggling actor with a sharp tongue who has sublet an apartment from single mom Marcia Mason, a divorcée with horrific taste in men, who are always running out on her. She is left high and dry once more, stuck sharing her apartment with Dreyfuss when he hasn't the heart to enforce his lease and toss out mother and daughter.

Neil Simon's play shines under the direction of Herbert Ross as these two mismatched people find their contempt changing into mutual admiration. Quinn Cummings is more interesting than most precocious child stars; she seems brighter and her manner is prickly instead of cloying. Watch this film just for the scene in which Dreyfuss plays Richard III in an off-off-Broadway play. He lisps, he limps, he screams. It is the worst theater you will ever see--and thoroughly hilarious. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Product Description

An over-the-hill Broadway chorus girl with a precocious nine-year-old daughter is forced to share her apartment with a young actor.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: PG
Release Date: 18-JAN-2000
Media Type: DVD

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "I don't - like - the panties - hanging - on - the rod!", January 22, 2004

By 

M. Hart "Sci-Fi Fan" (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Goodbye Girl (DVD)

In 1977, movie theater audiences were treated to what is probably Neil Simon's best writing with the film "The Goodbye Girl". Directed by Herbert Ross (1927-2001, who later directed "Steel Magnolias" in 1989), the film stars Richard Dreyfuss as the aspiring actor Elliot Garfield, Marsha Mason as former dancer Paula McFadden and Quinn Cummings as Paula's 10-year old daughter Lucy. The film begins with Paula and Lucy returning to their New York City apartment from a long day of shopping. They are preparing to move to California with Paula's boyfriend, Tony Deforest (not shown), who is another aspiring actor that just got an acting job in a Hollywood film. Upon getting home, Tony isn't there, but she finds a note that he left for her. The note is not what Paula wanted or expected to hear: Tony left without her and Lucy. Paula learns from building manager Mrs. Crosby (Theresa Merritt, 1924-1998) the next morning that loveable Tony did something else too: he sublet the apartment. Not having the money to move, Paula decides that she and Lucy will remain in the apartment. When the subletee arrives (Elliot), she reluctantly agrees to share the apartment with him. The resulting mutually antagonistic relationship slowly evolves into something quite different.

For his work in "The Goodbye Girl", Richard Dreyfuss won the much deserved Oscar for Best Actor. Marsha Mason was nominated for Best Actress and Quinn Cummings was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. The film itself was nominated for Best Picture and Neil Simon was nominated for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Some of the very memorable scenes in the film include Paula & Lucy's arrival home at the beginning of the film, Elliot's arrival, the living arrangements, Elliot's rehearsals, Paula's exercises, Lucy's stomachache, Elliot's alternate employment, the Chianti, the rooftop dinner, the carriage ride and the closing scenes. Other memorable characters include Elliot's off-Broadway director Mark (Paul Benedict, known for his portrayal of Harry Bentley in the 1975-1985 TV series "The Jeffersons") and Donna Douglas (Barbara Rhoades).

Overall, I rate the 1977 version of "The Goodbye Girl" with a resounding 5 out of 5 stars. It's a wonderfully engaging film that continues to entertain to this day. The 2004 television remake that starred Jeff Daniels as Elliot and Patricia Heaton as Paula was not anywhere as good as the original.

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A chick flick for guys too, September 2, 2002

By 

Tony R. Tucker (Crewe, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Goodbye Girl (DVD)

I saw the Goodbye Girl when it first came to theaters. At the time I was 12 and was really not interested in seeing it. I made quite a fuss as my parents dragged me into the theater. Now, many years later I can be honest and tell the world how much I liked the film.

Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason play mismatched people stuck rooming together when Mason's ex dumps her and sublets his apartment to Dreyfuss. Mason's character has a young daughter, played by Quinn Cummings, and the three end up tolerating each other until resentment turns to acceptance turns to caring turns to love. It's an old story but it's never been done better than this.

As an adult now, I think the film appeals to me because the male character is more than just window dressing in a story about how hard a woman's life is. Guys don't want to be beat over the head and this movie doesn't do that. Each character has their own chance to have a breakdown, and in the end we find a little of ourselves in all of them.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Romantic-Comedy Classic, May 26, 2000

By 

Brenda L Privara (Akron, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Goodbye Girl [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Dumped yet again by her less than scrupulous lover, Marcia Mason is in for quite a surprise when she finds out that her apartment has been sublet to Richard Dreyfuss ( who plays an actor about to begin his first off-Broadway play, Richard III ). Mason's wise-cracking daughter,(played by Quinn Cummings) is fantastic as a cynical 10 year old and almost steals the movie away from the main 2 characters. When Dreyfuss agrees to let Mason and her daughter share the apartment with him, the sparks start to fly. Immediately Dreyfuss begins to assert his egocentric personality by laying down the rules of the house "I DON'T like the panties drying on the rod !! " and their relationship goes down hill from there. But naturally, as it always goes in this type of romantic comedy, the 2 main characters eventually begin to warm up to each other and have a relationship of their own. It's a movie about taking chances and allowing yourself to be vulnerable just ONE more time to let love into your heart. My friend, Debbie, and I have watched this movie so many times we can practically recite the dialogue by heart "mama bear done fixed the cave up good !" This movie is worth watching if just to see Dreyfuss' character play the worst version of Richard III imaginable. He sashays and lisps and flounces around the off-Broadway stage until you are laughing so hard your sides hurt ! I highly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to watch something that is funny and yet touchingly innocent and uplifting, all at the same time.