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The Goodbye Girl

The Goodbye Girl

Comedy · Drama · Romance · 1977

After being dumped by her live-in boyfriend, an unemployed dancer and her 10-year-old daughter are reluctantly forced to live with a struggling off-Broadway actor.

Movie details

The Goodbye Girl

“Thank you Neil Simon for making us laugh at falling in love... again.”

1977 Comedy · Drama · Romance 1h 51m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.0 / 10

Community rating

After being dumped by her live-in boyfriend, an unemployed dancer and her 10-year-old daughter are reluctantly forced to live with a struggling off-Broadway actor.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Goodbye Girl?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Herbert Ross

Written by

Neil Simon

Richard Dreyfuss

Richard Dreyfuss

Elliot Garfield

Marsha Mason

Marsha Mason

Paula McFadden

Quinn Cummings

Quinn Cummings

Lucy McFadden

Paul Benedict

Paul Benedict

Mark

Barbara Rhoades

Barbara Rhoades

Donna

Theresa Merritt

Theresa Merritt

Mrs. Crosby

M

Michael Shawn

Ronnie

Court is in session

Put The Goodbye Girl on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.