The Goodbye Girl

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: November 30, 1977

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

64	METASCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

100

TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)

A rarity for Neil Simon's screen efforts, The Goodbye Girl perfectly blends humor, sentiment, and romance on a level so pleasant it's almost suspicious. Read full review

100

EmpireCaroline Westbrook

With insightful one-liners by the bucketload and a memorable duo in Dreyfuss and Mason, this serves as a joyful reminder of a genre which has long since past its best. Read full review

Roger Ebert

A funny movie with its heart finally in the right place, but all sorts of unacknowledged complications lurk just beneath its polished surface. Read full review

Gary Arnold

The Goodbye Girl itself represents a satisfying step back in the right direction for the purposes of light, optimistic film romance. Its appeal isn't exactly novel, but it is ingeniously and refreshingly traditional. [21 Dec 1977, p.D1]

Brian Lowry

The Neil Simon script evolves a series of increasingly intimate and sensitive character encounters as the adults progress from mutual hostility to an enduring love. Performances by Dreyfuss, Mason and Cummings are all great, and the many supporting bits are filled admirably. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Overall Simon's ego-splitting wisecracks make for many good laughs, even though, in contrast to Woody Allen's nervous New York humour, which has the discomforting ring of truth, Simon opts for a playwright's ring of confidence. Read full review

Robert Martin

If you enjoyed previous Simon comedies like Plaza Suite, it is virtually guaranteed that you will enjoy Goodbye Girl. If you have not previously enjoyed Simon's work, Goodbye Girl will not convert you. [21 Dec 1977]

Pauline Kael

The forced snappiness of the exchanges suggests two woodpeckers clicking at each other's heads. Irritability provides the rhythm in Neil Simon's universe.

Dave Kehr

Standard Neil Simon stuff, full of cute grotesques, snappy one-liners, and cheap plays at pathos. Read full review

Vincent Canby

Exhuasting without being much fun. Read full review

David Ansen

It's precisely at the finish line that Simon's calculations misfire and The Goodbye Girl collapses like a house of cards. The movie could have told us something about the wrenching collision of careers and romance, but it plays it safe, and in the end pays for it. [05 Dec 1977, p.109]