The Lonely Guy” served as a minor family favorite for years, like an inside joke we’d chuckle over while perusing the local video store’s collection. My Dad, never an easy sell with movies, clung to the film’s shtick for years.
Guess I shouldn’t have rescued it from Ross’ discount DVD bin last week.
Steve Martin stars as Larry Hubbard, a greeting card scribe who discovers his girlfriend is sleeping around with every male in their zip code. So he’s suddenly alone, and when he meets a fellow bachelor (Charles Grodin sans artificial turf) he realizes he’s become a Lonely Guy.
You know the type. Desperately single. Talks to plants. Eats dinners by himself in fancy restaurants.
There’s a few wickedly funny moments buried here, and most belong not to Martin but to Grodin’s sad sack slug. Grodin’s stooped shoulders and Fred Rogers’ sweaters epitomize the Lonely Guy Fall Collection.
It’s all Martin can do to keep up with his co-star, but back in ‘84 the salty haired comic still had that manic gleam in his eye that could make the worst jokes pop off the screen. Those eyes get a workout here, even though Neil Simon gets a screenwriting credit. Some of the “Guy” gags are older than Grodin’s moth-eaten ensembles.
“The Lonely Guy” runs out of material at the two-thirds mark, so it repeats the romantic arc between Larry and a six-time divorcee (Judith Ivey) to pad the running time.
Sorry, Dad. “The Lonely Guy” ain’t what he used to be.
(Photo: Steve Martin plays a desperately single New Yorker in the fitfully amusing comedy “The Lonely Guy”)
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I'm an award-winning journalist and film critic with more than a decade of experience in newspapers, magazines and the Web. I'm a member of both the Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association and the Denver Film Critics Society.
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I had almost forgotten about that movie! I remember it was on Showtime repeatedly when it first went on the air (do you say “on the air” for cable?) and I watched it a couple of times. I agree with you that Grodin is the highlight — his second-best performance after the sublime “Midnight Run.”
Grodin left a void when he abandoned character acting for political commentary. I haven’t seen him in a long time, save a tiny role in the forgettable film “The Ex.”
For classic Grodin, “Seems Like Old Times” is a good bet - and of course “Midnight Run” is a minor classic.