The Lonely Guy

Still looking back at the work of the late Arthur Hiller, I thought today I would write about another one of his forgotten comedies, 1984's The Lonely Guy.

Steve Martin stars as Larry Hubbard, a recently jilted greeting card writer who is having a hard time adjusting to his new found singledom. With the help of a new friend, another lonely guy named Warren, Charles Grodin, and the possibility of a new romance with a sweet lady named Iris, Judith Ivey, Larry gets a new lease on life. He turns lemons into lemonade and writes a best selling novel about his experiences in the lonely guy world. But the new found fame could end up costing him in the long run.

This is kind of an odd movie for Martin fans. He made this during his "wild and crazy guy" days. So when compared to the films he did with Carl Reiner, this one kind of comes off as mild. That being said, it's still an entertaining film and Martin is still funny, just a different kind of funny. It's kind of like if you watched Planes, Trains, And Automobiles followed by The Jerk. Both terrific movies with two totally different performances from Martin. And I saw this one when it come out, so I was used to The Jerk Martin instead of the less antic Martin.Martin still is really funny, as is Grodin doing his best sad sack performance.

Neil Simon wrote the screenplay, which was based on a novel by Bruce Jay Friedman. The two also collaborated on The Heartbreak Kid as well. Oddly enough, Grodin was in both films.

do enjoy this movie and it has a lot of laughs. It's an intersting turning point in Martin's career.

It's available on dvd.