The Lonely Guy (1984)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Arthur Hiller

Writers:

Bruce Jay Friedman (book)
Neil Simon (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 January 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Please don't turn him down.

Plot:

A writer for a greeting card company learns the true meaning of loneliness when he comes home to find his girlfriend in bed with another man.

Plot Keywords:

Single | Greeting Card | Book | Loneliness | Writer

Cast

Steve Martin	...	Larry Hubbard
Charles Grodin	...	Warren Evans
Judith Ivey	...	Iris
Steve Lawrence	...	Jack Fenwick
Robyn Douglass	...	Danielle
Merv Griffin	...	Himself
Joyce Brothers	...	Herself (as Dr. Joyce Brothers)
Candi Brough	...	Schneider Twin
Randi Brough	...	Schneider Twin
Julie Payne	...	Rental Agent
Madison Arnold	...	Lonely Cop
Roger Robinson	...	Greeting Card Supervisor
Dan Hannafin	...	Park Guard (as Daniel P. Hannafin)
Joan Suveny	...	Girl in Blood Bank
Nicholas Mele	...	Maitre D'

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Netherlands:AL | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Aspen Film Society

Trivia:

The film features cameo appearances from Merv Griffin, Dr. Joyce Brothers, and Loni Anderson.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Warren and Larry are standing on the street with their ferns talking the woman in the blue dress with the brown purse passes in their background going from left to right and then passes them again going in the same left to right direction a short time later.

Quotes:

Narrator: ...and Larry Hubbard.
Larry Hubbard: That's me, fifth one back. I can't take it over now.
Narrator: Oh, all right.

Movie Connections:

References 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Soundtrack:

Oughta Know Love By Now

Funny but uneven, worth a watch.

Not Steve Martin's finest hour-thirty but a funny film that has a lot of big laughs centered around lonely men, depression, angst with new relationships and fear of dying alone. Sounds hilarious doesn't it?

Wildly uneven the movie drags in points and makes it hard to sit completely through but still despite being borderline annoying, the film holds it's charm like an uncle that you just know will leave your party in 45 minutes.

Charles Grodin is mildly funny as Martin's best friend a fellow lonely guy and various cameos (Jimmy Carter) pepper this film holding your attention.

Out of gas at the end of the first hour it wisely wraps it up with a bow at a buck thirty... Good film. 7/10