Customer Reviews

Goodbye Lover

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I don't recall seeing any of Patricia Arquette's previous films, but this was definitely the one to start with! She plays a deliciously wicked hussy who, coincidentally, has a comical obsession with the soundtrack from "The Sound of Music". (Having been raised Catholic in a fairly religious family, I could really connect with this device.) The scene where she lipsyncs "I have confidence" is classic! And, I really enjoyed Ellen (Degeneres)in this movie. Her smaller supporting role as a sardonic cop did more to showcase her talent than many episodes of her show did, or larger roles like in "Mr. Wrong". If you allow yourself the time to get into the story at the beginning, the payoff is just plain FUN!

Wow, I can't believe this film got bad reviews in the press! It made me a bit stand offish about renting it but I just had to anyways. Come on Patricia Arquette is one of my favourites and I also love "Ellen Degenious".

Speaking of Ellen, she steals the show here. If it wasn't for her amazing one liner dead pan comments throughout the film, I may not have enjoyed this as much as i did. I was laughing so hard at some of her dialogue and the perfect timing she used to deliver these lines. This may sound ludicrous, but i would nominate her for an oscar for this, if I ran things (but who am I! ).

Furthermore on the Ellen subject, my God! did she look stunning at the end of the film! I have never seen her look so damn beautiful! I was totally impressed, you have to check her out. Who knew she was so versitle and gorgeous!

This film has a dark, bitter edge to it and i loved it. Strongly recommend this one, FORGET WHAT THE CRITICS SAID!

Its to bad Don Johnson's part was so short because he was really good in this movie! Johnson plays Ben Dunmore, head of an ad agency, plays organ at church, and he is also older brother to Jake (Dermot Mulroney). Ben has been having an illicit affair with Jake's wife Saundra, but Jake doesn't know, or does he?
Jake and Saundra, along with Ben's receptionist Peggy, have plotted to kill Ben for his insurance money. But what they didn't plan on was Rita Pompano, the saucy detective that gets wise to Saundra and her plans. Its a very crazy, cunning, and sexual movie. I will say it'll turn you off SOUND OF MUSIC in a heartbeat! That's all you hear is the SOUND OF MUSIC sdtk throughout so it gets old after awhile. But if you've never seen this movie, you've got to rent it. Its definately worth it!

This is a wickely funny and sexy movie that will keep you guessing. Don Johnson is perfect, as always, and Ellen DeGeneres is perfectly cast as a cynical police detective. I am not a great Ellen fan, but she is perfect in this role! I do not understand all the bad reviews for this movie. I found it to be quite entertaining and had to rewind it several times for a few choice scenes! Really good entertainment.

GOODBYE LOVER is a tasty and original film noir featuring incredibly good performances from its entire cast. Director Roland Joffe (Oscar nominated for THE MISSION and THE KILLING FIELDS) puts his tongue in his cheek and helms a story of battling femme fatales.
Patricia Arquette (brilliant) stars as a ditzy, sexually overactive wife to headstrong advertising executive Dermot Mulroney (also very good). She is also having an affair with Mulroney's brother, played beautifully by an unusually effective Don Johnson. Also involved is Mary Louise Parker as an assistant to both Johnson and Mulroney, who has the hots for ..hmmm...both the brothers? Soon, we know it's BODY HEAT all over when a plot is hatched to bump off Johnson for the four million dollar double indemnity insurance payoff. It's no plot spoiler to reveal Johnson exits the movie early and we see that there is more than meets the eye to the romantic shenanigans of all involved.
Then enters Ellen DeGeneres and Ray McKinnon as the detectives investigating Johnson's apparent accidental death. Generes is awesome; her one liners with McKinnon are priceless, harsh and incredible. Not one of her fans, I find myself in awe of her talent, particularly after this and FINDING NEMO. McKinnon as her Mormon, idealistic, and quite unintelligent partner, is a find! He's perfect as Ellen's foil and he brings a sense of moral uprightness and comic relief to this marvelous movie.
Some great moments: Arquette and Johnson getting it on in the choir loft while the choir sings Handel. Arquette and Johnson are both highly respected members of their church and take up the collection plate. Mulroney goes to hire a killer to off his wife, and we see this man hanging upside down and don't know why! We see "what if" thoughts from both Johnson and Arquette that mirror what they'd like to see. While questioning a cook in a restaurant, DeGeneres (who always seems to be eating), is stealing food while McKinnon questions the cook. At one point in the movie, Ellen asks her partner if he's gay. (How's that for political correctness?). We never learn why she asks that particular question, and in a particularly joyous moment near the end of the film, McKinnon pulls a joke that has you riveted to your seat.
This is a real find...it's worth buying, it's that good!

The cast alone is worthy of 5 stars - Ellen Degeneres, Mary-Louise Parker, Dermot Mulroney, Don Johnson and Patricia Arquette. The plot is a superb blend of lust, deception, greed and murder. I agree that Ellen's brash detective steals the show, although the ending seemed kind of abrupt. It is still beyond excellent and highly recommended!

GOODBYE LOVER slipped by a lot of viewers when it was released in 1998 and it is only now while on DVD that the quality of this little tongue-in-cheek film noir is gaining steady popularity. And that is basically due to a superb cast of fine actors who obviously are enjoying every minute of the project.

Sandra (Patricia Arquette) is a girl of somewhat lethal ambition, married to Jake (Dermot Mulroney) but having an affair with Jake's brother Ben (Don Johnson) who is also having an affair with his secretary Peggy (Mary-Louise Parker). The action quickens when the dark murder-for-insurance angle appears, but this also opens the door for the entrance of detective Pompano (Ellen DeGeneres) and her oingo-boingo partner Rollins (Ray McKinnon) who set about solving the tangled mysteries. The results create a very funny, dark humored movie that sparkles in the hands of all of the actors, especially with DeGeneres and Arquette.

A great movie? No, but one that is a lot of fun as directed with an astute grasp of the medium by Roland Joffé. Grady Harp, August 06

This was a decent, entertaining movie and as a huge Patricia Arquette fan I bought the DVD before I saw it. I wouldn't call this film noir though it attempts be just that. I was told the story line jumped all over the place but I found it easy, if not too easy to keep up with the plot. I only gave this 3 stars because it was just too easy to see where it was going. The ending had a good twist but the rest was predictable. Patricia Arquette hasn't looked this good since True Romance. Go see that first.

First of all, I would like to say that it is a shame that this movie is not a box office hit as it is highly entertaining. I hope it gets a well-deserved second look with its DVD. All the casts are superb including Patricia Arquette and Ellen degeneres. There is enough plot and twist to make this standard murder mystery plot fresh. And funny script make this even more enjoyable.

The plot basically is about the death of advertising executive (Don Johnson). His brother is the sole beneficiary of the insurance policy. So the police (Ellen de Generes) is suspicious. To say more will spoil the fun.

The DVD is OK. Both WS and FS versions included. The color is bright and clear. The 5.1 sound only active during wonderful music score by John Ottman. Overall this is a highy recommended DVD.

I was pleasantly surprised.

Reviews of this 1999 film were hardly complementary. In fact, I cannot even recall its initial release or if it ever reached Worcester, MA (hardly the first time an unusual film failed to make it to the Paris of New England). Nevertheless, have some fun with this underrated work. Roland Joffe, of The Killing Fields fame, takes Double Indemnity, adds 10 pints of sex with more twist and turns than a Monaco Grand Prix and you have Goodbye Lover.

It's also quite funny.

For the Mary-Louise Parker fans out there, not only is she good (again) yet one can see why she accepted this job. It is yet another opportunity for her to explore the complexity of personality and how rarely people are what they appear to be. She fooled me, anyway. Patricia Arquette and Dermot Mulroney also have some fun with this. Actually, Ellen DeGeneres character as a cynical, wisecracking police detective with some rather bad stand-up (with her Mormon sidekick) remain fairly true to themselves. Don Johnson role is small but he's actually quite good as a guy who's clearly up to his nostrils in bad choices. I loved watching him sweat it out.

Definitely worth a second look. Rated R (not for the kiddies, send them to the movies)