The Lonely Guy (1984)

The Lonely Guy is often quite funny but unfortunately sometimes dreadfully dull. Like Jim Abrahams and later Mel Brooks movies, this is classic Neil Simon where he throws rapid-fire jokes at you. Some hit and some miss, but you don't have to wait long for the next one. The scene where he dines alone in a fancy restaurant was one of the funniest. Somebody else seemed to think so, too, as it was copied almost verbatim for an Australian TV commercial two years later. Imitation must be the sincerest form of flattery.

As a New Yorker, I liked seeing the city in this movie. It's a somewhat dirtier but more variegated New York than in movies like "Ghost" or "When Harry Met Sally," which spent too much time in tony neighborhoods like Tribeca, the Village and Midtown.

Unfortunately, the definitive home video version does not exist and probably never will. The laserdisc is marred by a bad transfer and excessive, very objectionable video and audio noise. This may be the dreaded laser rot in action or just bad production. The DVD is beautiful, with a crisp transfer and no noticeable noise. But its 1.85:1 widescreen presentation is in the form of matting/masking the 1.33:1 Academy Frame, so instead of showing more picture, it actually shows less than the cassette and the laserdisc. The matting makes the "widescreen" frame feel distractingly cramped, with characters' heads continually butting up against the top. One joke in particular suffers badly: When Larry is laying on a bed talking to a woman, he's bare-chested in his fantasy to imply they're in bed together. But the widescreen version shows only his head, so the joke is weakened. Too bad a full-frame DVD will probably never be made as this is one of the few times when a full-frame presentation would have been preferable.

Fmovies: This movie is so funny!

I remember seeing this see not even in high school yet. It was so funny overall that , as a kid, I didn't even care if I didn't get the adult humor. Larry Hubbard just makes me laugh!

The first thing working for this is location-location-LOCATION! It's so fun to see NYC and there are even scenes of Steve Martin walking nonchalant in the streets (see early scene where Steve crosses the street, a guy passes him and then quickly turns his head to look back at Steve – that's so New York!). Larry's happy-go lucky attitude makes him affable and it's hilarious to see him stuck in one lonely rut to another. THEN, definite plus for this movie is Charles Grodin's Warren who is the anti-Larry. Grodin's pessimistic responses, rules for lonely guys, and ultra-lonely attitude just crack me up in any scene he is in. "Isn't your guy going to say good-bye to my guy?" That's just too funny!!!

There are lots of classic moments like on the Manhattan bridge, any of Larry & Warren hanging out, or any lonely lesson learned. The chemistry between Martin and several people in the film is great. Watch this one and remember, you have to reserve "Gene Hackman" a week in advance.

The reasonable sprinkling of chuckles in this light comedy about loneliness in New York is ably augmented by Charles Grodin, displaying a hitherto undisclosed talent for geekery. As with all Steve Martin efforts, this one veers towards sentimentality and sports an unearned happy ending. And that's about it.

The Lonely Guy fmovies. This movie started out with a bang when I first saw it as a child. I was really disappointed when I could not watch it in its entirety. So when I had a chance to rent it, I jumped at the chance and I am rather sad I did. The first half was still funny, but all the stuff I missed was sadly worth missing. Not that it was all bad mind you, there was a chuckle or two in this part of the movie, but nothing compared to the laughs found in the first half of the film from when Steve finds out his girlfriend has been cheating on him, to the restaurant, to the strange jogging using fake sweat. Then a bit before he writes his book on how to be a lonely guy the movie really slows down its pace and it becomes a bit to sentimental at times, while still showing a bit of the zaniness that made the first half of the film really good. The story is about a lonely guy who starts off with a girlfriend, but ends up alone in rather funny fashion. He makes friends with another lonely guy played very well by Charles Grodin and they proceed to try and help each other out. Like I said you get some great scenes during this time and Steve meets up with a girl he for some reason cannot hook up with due to one problem after another. So in the end an okay movie, that just needed some of that energy from the first half of the film to carry over to the second.

A movie about being lonely, doesn't grab you as the obvious subject to make a comedy about does it? But this movie does wonderfully.

Great performances from Martin and Grodin especially (in what in my opinion his is best ever role) as he guides Martin's character through what it is to be a lonely guy, from cocktail parties with cardboard cut-outs of film stars, to standing in as an opening act when their friends are going to be late for dates.

This he learns so well he turns it into a best selling book and eventually finds true love. A wonderful movie that will comfort anyone who is feeling a bit down as it shows that things could be so much worse.

I'd call this a small masterpiece.

I usually watch just ten minutes of a movie, find it boring, then discard it. Or, I fast forward through great big sections of a film and get satisfaction from the leftover bits and pieces. With this one I never once reached for the fast forward button. It is charming, touching, lovely, hilarious and satisfying. One cares deeply for the characters played by Martin and Grodin and wants happiness to come their way.

The sadness never overwhelms because the lighthearted scenes make for a perfect balance.

You could go through a whole row at Blockbuster and not find a gem like this one. If you have even just a touch of a tender heart, by all means rent this one.