Well Deserved Praise

Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Recently dumped by his girlfriend, struggling novelist and greeting card writer Steve Martin becomes one of New York City's Lonely Guys: unattached fellows who dine alone, sleep alone, take care of their ferns and occasionally jump off the Manhattan Bridge. Neil Simon's adaptation of Bruce Jay Friedman's book "The Lonely Guy's Book of Life", scripted by Stan Daniels and Ed. Weinberger, isn't full of great jokes, but does have enough of them to sustain enjoyment for about an hour. Once Martin becomes a success--writing a handbook for the Lonely Guys of the world--the picture has no place left to go and dies. Director Arthur Hiller probably didn't understand episodic comedy--his linking device between skits, conversations between Martin and lonesome cohort Charles Grodin, is occasionally more amusing and potentially more interesting than the main narrative--but Steve Martin is working at the peak of his charms and some of the gags have a low-key spark of genius. ** from ****

This is dedicated to lonely guys everywhere. Larry Hubbard (Steve Martin) is an aspiring writer working at a greetings card company. He finds his girlfriend Danielle in bed with another man and she kicks him out. He befriends lonely guy Warren Evans (Charles Grodin) from the park bench. He meets Iris (Judith Ivey) at a diner but he smudges her number. He meets her again and loses her number again. She breaks up with him and he writes a book about his experience. He becomes a best seller.It has a quirky original sense of spoof humor. This Arthur Hiller film reminds me of Mel Brooks. It's wacky light fun for a little while but it gets a bit repetitive. Martin and the sad Grodin have some nice comic chemistry. Judith Ivey is not funny enough. She needs to be as wacky as he is. She needs to be a great comedian. She's too limited. The perfect way for her character to go is for her to be a lonely gal. Even the sad Grodin feels repetitive with their pontifications.

Directed by a workmanlike Arthur Hiller, "The Lonely Guy" stars Steve Martin as a lonely greeting-card writer who struggles to meet women. His partner in arms is Warren (memorably played by Charles Grodin), another lonely heart. The duo spend the film lost in depression, morbidly discussing their futures, love lives and suicidal funks. The film's blend of slapstick, anarchy and dour humour recalls early Woody Allen."Look at that guy, he's got a girl. He wasn't born with his arm around her - he must have met her somewhere!" Warren moans. Luckily their perpetual bachelorhood ends with the introduction of several female characters, none of whom are particularly well written but all of whom who point the film toward a generic happy ending. The film works best when its aiming for morose comedy. As a romance it falls flat.7.5/10 – Fairly original plot undermined by formulaic romantic subplots. Worth one viewing.

Love this movie! Loved it when I first saw it over 20 years ago and it still holds up today. After all, there have been and always will be "Lonely Guys" that can relate to the movie. Martin and Grodin were great in every scene together. I wish they teamed up in movies more often. They could have given Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor a run for their money! I do have one bad thing to say about the movie. The last third of it sort of went downhill. I still found it funny but the laughs were a little cheaper and not as witty, offbeat and deadpan. The sneezing scene is a case in point. It was just plain stupid and needed to be on the cutting room floor. Unfortunately, I relate to it more now than ever before. My wife left me a year ago and I now sometimes find myself feeling the same way Larry and Warren did. However, I do not see myself buying several cardboard stand-ups of celebrities anytime soon. The ones that actually talk are kinda tempting though! PS - I don't mean to sound queer or nothing', but the theme song is really sweet!