THE GOODBYE GIRL (1977)

Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role, huh?  Four other Oscar nominations, huh? I guess a lot has changed between 1977 and nowadays because this film was lost on me.  Dancer Marsha Mason's actor boyfriend just dumped her and moved out of the country.  Even worse, he subleased his apartment to another actor, Richard Dreyfuss, without informing her.  So now, kinda like in THE MORE THE MERRIER, she has an uninvited guest living with her.  At first they are at each other like cats and dogs, but of course they eventually fall in love.  Never saw that coming.

Normally I'm a fan of Neil Simon's work, but this one wasn't that good.  Actually that might be a little bit wrong, the story was alright (unoriginal, but alright), but I didn't care for the characters.  Dreyfuss comes across as a self-absorbed dick and Mason's entire existence seems to revolve around if she has a boyfriend or not.  I didn't feel any sympathy of either one of them.

As far as the acting goes, Richard Dreyfuss was pretty much your standard onscreen Richard Dreyfuss.  I thought he was much better in JAWS.  Marsha Mason...ehh, she wasn't all that good, but maybe that was just the pathetic character she was playing.  All in all, I found the entire movie to be a slight bore.  Unlikable characters, small kid full of wise-beyond-her-years wisecracks, highly predictable but still disappointing ending (there's no way in hell these two loons are gonna make it), 70's interior designs, interesting outdoor NYC street scenes, Dreyfuss playing a supergay Richard III (the only funny part of the movie), mediocre acting (Woody Allen should have won the Acting Oscar instead for ANNIE HALL). 

Not a bad film just a dated (what the hell was the "blood test" line about?) and boring one.  Skip it.