User reviews

This movie was brilliantly done. I confess that I've never seen the 1977 original, and it is no insult to the actors in that one to say that Jeff, Patricia, and Hallie are a fabulous trio in this film. Take this version as a standalone and you will be impressed! The comic timing is excellent; the emotion is vividly real in almost every scene; the chemistry is actually better early on, when it is more below the surface, than later in the film; and the casting could not have been more perfect.

Jeff Daniels is particularly excellent as Elliot Garfield, with his artful blend of dry humor and simple passion. An actor playing an actor on screen is rarely demonstrated so well, but his charm keeps this character utterly believable. I was not a big fan of Patricia Heaton until she took this role, but I discovered a depth in her acting that was not as evident to me from her television work. It helps that she is obviously an intelligent woman, and she brings an endearing mix of tentative hope and cynicism to this character, just as she should. Hallie Kate Eisenberg, in her second role as an intelligent, rather mature child, is the perfect complement to Patricia's Paula McFadden. Hallie plays Paula's daughter in this film, more innocent and hopeful than her mother, but not a stranger to the world and its emotional threats. All three characters are very human, very real; and the intelligent, witty dialogue is so plausible that you almost feel you are being told this story by the characters themselves who are your personal friends.

Overall, brilliantly made, perfectly cast, and a real delight! Fans of comedy, romance, and even biting wit, will all be charmed and impressed.

Maybe my critical eye is not all that it might be or I'm just very generous in my appreciation of films.Either way I have thoroughly enjoyed the 2004 made-for-TV version of Simon's brilliant play.I watched the original on satellite TV and a week later tuned in again,thinking it was the same version, not knowing of the re-make.As it dawned on me,I realised that it was the plot,setting,writing etc which appealed to me more than the acting performances.Jeff and Patricia are fine in the roles, as were Richard and Marsha before them.I see no reason to condemn this re-make and I've no doubt the next version of "The Goodbye Girl" will be just as good as these two.It's a great poignant comedy with wonderful one-liners.

As great a playwright as he is, Neil Simon occasionally goes a bit "overboard." In the movie "Plaza Suite," there wasn't one single likable character among all three stories, and the same was true of the original "The Out-of-Towners" - despite leads you wouldn't think capable of projecting this. And if it were ever possible to become tired of the great Walter Matthau's presence on screen, "Plaza Suite" confirmed it. In the original of this story, Marsha Mason was, in my opinion, thoroughly annoying - and I never cared for her work in anything of hers I ever saw. Patricia Heaton is 180-degrees opposite, and this movie proves it. Her Paula was someone you'd want to be with, stay with, come home to. Marsha Mason was one which you could visualize anybody chomping at the proverbial "bit" to extricate oneself. Further, Jeff Daniels is far more likable than Richard Dryfess as Elliot. Patricia Heaton rates along with Diane Keaton, Ann Heche, Sharon Stone and Sandra Bullock - as someone whom you thoroughly enjoy watching, whether the character is comedic, serious, tragic, or whatever. This movie's a "9," its predecessor about a "5-1/2."

I didn't see the original Goodbye Girl, so I'm not comparing it to that film. My opinion of this movie may be different if I had, but seeing this on TNT 1/18/04, I liked it, especially the the last hour. I'm now watching the repeat performance on TNT with my wife (told her to bring a box of kleenex).