The Goodbye Girl (TV 2004)

Musical dancer on the way out (at 36) Paula McFadden had it swell with actor Tony DeSanti, but instead of taking her to Hollywood he gets a European movie part. He even sublets their (his) ... See full summary »

Director:

Richard Benjamin

Writers:

Neil Simon, Neil Simon

Stars:

Jeff Daniels, Patricia Heaton, Hallie Kate Eisenberg

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeff Daniels	...	Elliot Garfield
Patricia Heaton	...	Paula McFadden
Hallie Kate Eisenberg	...	Lucy McFadden
Lynda Boyd	...	Donna Douglas
Alan Cumming	...	Mark
Richard Benjamin	...	Oliver Fry
Sharon Wilkins	...	Mrs. Crosby
Zak Santiago	...	Dance Class Instructor
Marco Soriano	...	Ronnie Burns
Woody Jeffreys	...	Eddie, Ronnie's Assistant
Panos Grames	...	Pianist
Jessica Van der Veen	...	Stage Manager
Emily Holmes	...	Rhonda
John Shaw	...	First Gentleman
Jack O'Connell	...	Salesman- Liquor Store

Storyline

Musical dancer on the way out (at 36) Paula McFadden had it swell with actor Tony DeSanti, but instead of taking her to Hollywood he gets a European movie part. He even sublets their (his) New York apartment to Elliot Garfield, who generously lets her stay, even keeping the master bedroom. Pragmatic pre-teen daughter Lucy soon takes to his charm, but Paula remains determined to hate all actors. Despite the stress of a Broadway Shakespeare lead he must play too queer for Frisco, he's determined to snatch romance from ingratitude.

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Plot Keywords:

dancer | love | dancing | bathtub | homelessness | 

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Taglines:

A story about love at first fight.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Details

Official Sites:

TNT

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Turner Network Television (TNT), Warner Bros. Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This "updated" remake involved little rewriting of the original 1977 film (The Goodbye Girl). The screenplay is word-for-word and scene-for-scene from the original script with the exception of a few curse words removed to make it appropriate for television and a line that referred to Richard Dreyfuss's height in the original that wouldn't make sense when said by Jeff Daniels.

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Connections

References Inherit the Wind (1960)

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Soundtracks

"Laughter In the Sunshine"
Written by Patrick Woodland

User Reviews

Mildly enjoyable fluff...but why make it?

It is almost impossible to watch this movie, without comparing it to the 1970's movie. Jeff Daniels does a servicable job in this role, but to my eyes he seems miscast. He is just not desperate or manic enough in this part. Patricia Heaton is actually an upgrade over Marcia Mason in the female lead.

This is just an odd film to remake. The original was not exactly out of date. They did not make any big changes in this version, except very minor mentions of more current events. If you are bored, the source material this comes from is still pretty good. However if you really enjoy this movie, take the time to rent the 1977 version. I promise you will appreciate it being better.