Product 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #59334 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2004-07-20
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 103 minutes

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

Customer Reviews

a TV movie that you just might really enjoy
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!
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.

New Movie Is Just as Good as The Old Movie!
I have seen the first Goodbye Girl movie and I liked it but I also seen the remake and I liked it too and I dont undertstand the hangup people have about remakes, I mean whats the big deal if they remake an old movie?

Patricia Heaton from Everybody loves Raymond was pretty awesome ijn this movie and so was Jeff Daniels and Hallie-Kate Eisenberg and if you have an open mind I think you will like the remake too.