The 50th Academy Awards (1978)
Nominations: 5
Wins: 1
I never thought the final push I’d need to watch this movie would be from a reference in a post-apocalyptic TV show about mushroom-zombies, but here we are. I am of course referring to the HBO show The Last of Us which earlier this season had a scene where a community of survivors had a movie night and what movie did they pick? Let’s just say somebody is a Richard Dreyfuss fan.
The thematic connection is clear if you’re familiar with both properties. Both that particular episode of Last of Us and The Goodbye Girl feature a child character who fears the adult they are growing attached to is going to abandon them. It’s a nice touch but conversely, I can’t imagine any child would ever want to watch this movie. Unless kids really get a kick out of Richard Dreyfuss’s flamboyant take on Shakespeare’s Richard III.
Written by legendary playwright Neil Simon, The Goodbye Girl is about a struggling former dancer, Paula (Marsha Mason), and her ten-year-old daughter, Lucy (Quinn Cummings), abandoned by Paula’s boyfriend in an apartment that said boyfriend has now sublet to aspiring stage actor, Elliot (Richard Dreyfuss). Hilarity ensues when the high strung Paula clashes with the egotistical Elliot with Lucy’s daughter (who likes Elliot) stuck in the middle.
It’s a simple Rom-Com premise but with Neil Simon’s trademark wit immersed in every day situations. We see Paula and Elliot bounce between crappy jobs like Paula presenting Japanese cars at tradeshows and Elliot being the doorman for a strip club. Elliot also butts heads with the director (Paul Benedict) of the play he’s starring in (Richard III) after he is forced to play the character foppish and with a prominent lisp. If that sounds problematic the film actually addresses this as Elliot is well aware of the director’s tasteless creative decision.
I like Richard Dreyfuss but if I have to level with you, going in I was ready to rake this film over the coals. It’s easy to look back at the Oscars and see certain films that had no right being in the Best Picture race. So when I saw a Rom-Com about struggling bohemians up against a film like Star Wars I assumed the worst. But looking at 1977 in film I think this was the right call.
There were a lot of great cult movies in 1977 like; Sorcerer, The Last Wave, Eraserhead, but if we’re talking “prestige” films, 1977 was slim pickings. So I don’t mind a quaint Rom-Com slipping in. Neil Simon was wildly popular in the ’70s, and the film is very watchable. Marsha Mason and Richard Dreyfuss (both nominated, Dreyfuss won) are at the top of their game trying to out zing each other. The relationship between Quinn Cummings (also nominated) and Dreyfuss is very sweet. As much as I want to find a knock against this movie, I can’t really. It’s charming!
One additional note I want to bring up is that this film multiple times brings up A Streetcar Named Desire, which is the film I reviewed last time. Richard Dreyfuss says he played Stanley Kowalski on stage once (he had to stand on a crate to look taller), Marsha Mason compares herself to Blanche, and they even quote the “you can always depend on the kindness of strangers” line. I had no idea there would be any kind of connection between the two films.
But will there be a connection next time when I review Dances with Wolves? Will Kevin Costner say, “I’ve always depended on the kindness of wolves.”? Check back soon to find out!