The Goodbye Girl (2004 TV Movie)

Starring:Lynda Boyd, Dominic Colon, Alan Cumming, Joe D'Onofrio, Jeff Daniels, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, Ron Halder, Patricia Heaton, Emily Holmes, Woody Jeffreys, John B. Lowe, Jack O'Connell (II), Zak Santiago, John Shaw, Marco Soriano, Wass M. Stevens, Jessica Van der Veen, Sharon Wilkins, Katey Wright
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

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.

Amazon.com

More than a quarter-century after Herbert Ross directed Richard Dreyfuss to an Oscar and made an indelible cinematic impression out of Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl, a 2004 television remake starring Jeff Daniels and Patricia Heaton proved winning and funny in its own way. Daniels plays Elliot, an actor who subleases a New York City apartment already occupied by a dancer and single mom, Paula (Heaton), and her daughter (Hallie Kate Eisenberg). Focused on his stagecraft, Elliot is irked about sharing housing with strangers, and while Paula feels the same (to great comic effect), both come to lean on and finally love one another over time. The underrated Daniels is very good here, nuanced and thoughtful, and his work performing (as Elliot) in a stage production of Richard III is quite entertaining. Heaton is equally strong and frequently stirring; anyone with doubts about this film's casting will quickly forget them. --Tom Keogh

Description

The Goodbye Girl is a contemporary turn on Academy? Award-nominated Neil Simon's classic film about a dumped-on divorcee and an aspiring actor who become unwilling roommates in a New York City apartment.

Customer Reviews:

Great Movie!.......2006-07-23

Tis movie is so much better than the 1970's version with Dreyfuss and Mason. Heaton and Daniels are a much better matching couple. These people are so fitting and right for these roles of a struggling and a struggling house wife/ dancer! Thank you Richard Benjamin for a great movie and great entertaiment.

a TV movie that you just might really enjoy.......2006-04-03

This made-for-TV film is one that I felt instantly inclined to pick up on DVD when I came across it on Amazon, due mostly in part to the recognizable and talented cast. Patricia Heaton appeared in a couple movies and landed some guest spots on television series before her breakthrough on "Everybody Loves Raymond," but this is one of the few films in which she stars. Many sitcom actors experience some difficulty transitioning to film, but Heaton has an apparent ease on camera and performs this role quite well, despite the fact that it is so different from her gig as Debra on "Raymond." In fact, any fan of that show who is familiar with Heaton's tough-as-nails, take-no-crap-from-anybody role may be a bit humored to see her in this movie as a character who is bawling over a guy within the first five minutes, but for her it works just fine. Heaton has a definite knack for humor and sarcasm in her acting, which gives her a nice distinction and gives her onscreen success.

"The Goodbye Girl" is a simple, sweet story of a single mother with a wise-beyond-her-years daughter and a reputation for falling for and being dumped by several actor types. As the sweet but undeniably cliched plot continues, another actor enters her life and shows a definite potential to establish a family with Heaton and her child.

There is not a whole lot to the storyline and therefore not much to really comment on in that aspect, but the cast was well chosen and gives the movie a nice touch. Jeff Daniels is a genuinely funny actor with many humorous scenes here, and young child starlet Hallie Kate Eisenberg (remember those infamous Pepsi commercials?) maintains those classic out-of-control curls and river-deep dimples to give a believable portrayal as Patricia Heaton's 10-year-old daughter. Eisenberg has grown quite a bit since doing all those movies as a tiny little girl, but she works very well alongside Heaton and seems to be doing just fine as a preteen star. It is also nice to see Heaton playing such a large part with a child actress. Of course, she played a devoted and loving mother on "Raymond," but in that show we actually don't see her interacting that much with her kids--it is mostly suggestive that she is with them a lot of the time. This movie has her and Eisenberg interacting all the way through, and the fact that they are more like friends than mother and daughter gives them both some good improvisational material to work with.

In short, "The Goodbye Girl" is a movie worth renting or buying if you like the cast and would enjoy seeing a lighthearted and entertaining family story.

BETER THAN OTHER REVIEWS HAD POSTED!.......2006-01-08

I really enjoyed the show. It was a very funny and romanitic movie. The acting was very good and thescript was fine for television. I like Daniel over Dryfuss anyday. It is definetly worth a watch.

Some Like It Others Don't!.......2005-12-11

Okay I like this movie and found it almost as good as the original movie but I want to say that I thought it was mean and bratty for the previous reviewer to say that all of the other reviewers were crazy! I like this movie but I can understand and accept that not everyone liked it as much as I did and after all as they say everyone's entitled to their own opinions so just accept that and get over it! By the way I also disagree with the guy who said Hallie Kate Eisenberg was ugly. I personally think she is one of the most adorable child actresses ever!

Everyone Else Is Crazy!.......2005-10-11

I owned the soundtrack to the musical version of this on CD and liked it! So when I heard of a tv version I had to watch it! And I fell in love with it! I didn't know if this was going to go on dvd or not, so when I saw this at walmart I had to get it! I love it! All the other people who watched this movie and didn't like it were out of their mind! I like it much better than the 70's version!

Average customer rating:

I Kissed Dating Goodbye Video Series

Manufacturer: Multnomah Publishers
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Building on his best-selling book and popular conference series, Joshua Harris offers biblical direction for those seeking a love that'll last a lifetime! Open, honest, and often humorous, this powerful media package uses drama, on-the-street interviews, personal testimonies, and segments taped before a live audience to explore relationships in Josh's incomparable way. Three sessions (Love / Purity / Trust) will help singles of all ages gain a biblical perspective on how to readjust their relationships in light of Scripture. Plus nearly two hours of bonus features! Approximately 5 hours.

[18 Feature Films] Seven Doors to Death, Hot Rod Girl, Blonde Savage, They Made Me a Criminal, Silver Horde, Bird of Paradise, Outpost in Morocco, Renfrew of the Royal Mounted, Dark Room, Aerialist, Return of Michael Campion, Peter Hurok's Store Part 1 & 2, Goodbye Grandpa, Where Are They?, Executioner, Explorer, Encounter

Average customer rating:

[18 Feature Films] Seven Doors to Death, Hot Rod Girl, Blonde Savage, They Made Me a Criminal, Silver Horde, Bird of Paradise, Outpost in Morocco, Renfrew of the Royal Mounted, Dark Room, Aerialist, Return of Michael Campion, Peter Hurok's Store Part 1 & 2, Goodbye Grandpa, Where Are They?, Executioner, Explorer, Encounter

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

Product Description

SPECIAL FEATURES: Digitally Mastered, Interactive Menus, Chapter Selections, Digitally Enhanced Audio 5.1

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