MovieChat Forums > The Goodbye Girl (2004) Discussion > Have to ask: why invite comparisons?

Have to ask: why invite comparisons?

posted 14 years ago by chrisbedford
2 replies | jump to latest

Why remake a classic that did everything right, knowing that everyone who sees it is going to be comparing it scene for scene, line for line with the original?

Even though it must be 30 years since I saw Dreyfus & Mason's version, I kept seeing them in this movie. And they didn't measure up! OK so maybe my memory of the original is itself a bit romanticised, but isn't that the point? Remake an old favourite that people remember fondly and they can't help comparing the two versions.

For goodness' sake, there's even a mini-lesson embedded in the screenplay: a director who can't see his own production for the steaming pile of horse manure that it is. Well, this movie isn't *that* bad, it's ok as an amusing Sunday evening diversion (if there's nothing else on) but it doesn't draw you in and make you feel *with* the characters. Not me it didn't, anyway.

In another thread on this board, someone points out that Hallie Eisenberg ("The Kid") is the most appealing thing about this movie and I have to agree. (Eliot's character says it in the script, too!). Jeff Daniels is not bad, but doesn't convince. Patricia Heaton, well - the nicest thing I can say about her is that she does nothing for the movie. She may not quite be a shrew, but she certainly doesn't carry off her lines with any appeal at all - Marsha Mason had exactly the same lines but I don't remember thinking well who cares if she does end up evicted on a rainy NY sidewalk, and the love that develops between Dreyfus' & her characters is a *lot* more believable than when you see it happen between Daniels & Heaton. When JD (rather suddenly) "attacks" Ms Heaton in the bathroom and starts smothering her with kisses, I thought Huh? Doesn't the romance develop in this story? No chemistry. No believability. No... charisma (to use another line from the script).

Verdict: faced with a choice between this and, say, "The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer", choose to go to bed. Or watch Discovery Channel. Or Silver Surfer, if you are an insomniac who's already seen that episode of Farm Animals We Have Rescued.

[–] Devans00 9 years ago

I watched the 1977 film directly before the 2004 version, just so I could compare. Because it's 2015 and I can.

In my opinion, the 2004 version is inferior in almost every way. The only thing I liked better in the 2004 version was the apartment. Only because it was bigger and less claustrophobic. But the bigger apartment was probably less realistic for a struggling actor and out of work dancer to live in.

Both of the 2004 leads, Patricia Heaton and Jeff Daniels, are more self assured and less vulnerable than the original Marsha Mason and Richard Dreyfuss. Probably because both are at least 10 years too old for the roles. Having actors who can play around 30 years old seems appropriate to the story.

Even the 2004 Lucy was too old. Hallie Kate Eisenberg is fine but she didn't have that 10 going on 45 vibe that Quinn Cummings perfected. Mainly because she looked like a less helpless teenager who could realistically take care of herself more than the almost baby 1977 Lucy.

The only point that was about the same between the versions were the wacky directors. I like Alan Cumming and Paul Benedict about equally. Both have their charms in different ways.

I'm struggling to figure out why such a classic movie was remade, with almost the exact same script. At some points, you could tell that Heaton and Daniels worked hard to make some lines different than the 1977 movie.

I guess "somebody" needed a project. Unfortunately, they decided to go with a past success instead of nurturing an up and coming writer. Why take a chance on something new when Goodbye Girl 1977 is loved by so many people?

No two persons ever watch the same movie.

[–] snelling 8 years ago

Yes, I bought this DVD at a video close-out sale just out of curiosity, probably eight years ago. It was practically a shot-for-shot, line-for-line copy of the original. There was absolutely no point to this even being made. This production was a summer stock version of the Neil Simon classic. I will never watch this version again. Someone mentioned anachronisms out the yin yang. YES!

"I will not go down in history as the greatest mass-murderer since Adolf Hitler!" - Merkin Muffley