The Lonely Guy
A writer for a greeting card company discovers the struggles and tribulations of living alone after breaking up with his unfaithful girlfriend.
Cast:
- Steve Martin as Larry Hubbard
- Charles Grodin as Warren Evans
- Judith Ivey as Iris
- Steve Lawrence as Jack Fenwick
- Robyn Douglass as Danielle
- Merv Griffin as himself
- Joyce Brothers as herself
1984 viewing
Steve Martin was banned in my house, Saturday Night Live, movies, stand-up anything. I don’t know why, it doesn’t really matter.
I didn’t see this in 1984, not even at a friends house.
Let’s check it out…
40th Anniversary Re-watch
Not bad, not my favorite Steve Martin movie. As Steve Martin movies go, Planes, Trains and Automobiles is my favorite. All his others fall in the “yeah, not bad” category for me.
Martin plays Larry a guy who loses his girlfriend and becomes a ‘lonely guy.’ His friend Warren is also a lonely guy and is contemplating suicide.
Larry goes through ups and downs trying to meet women and always ends up lonely. I could relate during the restaurant scene; he walks in and says he is alone; everyone stops what they are doing and stares at him, then a spotlight shines on him as he walks to the table.
The haircut scene on the park bench with Warren (Charles Grodin) is funny and reminded me of a Seinfeld skit. All the scenes with Warren are good; I found Warren more compelling than Larry.
I wonder if Seinfeld or Larry David saw this movie? You could put Jery and George in those scenes and they’d work perfectly.
Finally, Larry meets a girl, Iris, they date for a while, then she leaves and he’s lonely again. In his desperation Larry writes a book called A Guide for the Lonely Guy. It’s an instant best seller and Larry isn’t lonely anymore. Or more correctly, Larry isn’t alone anymore, he still seems lonely.
Favorite Line:
I don’t like to take naps. I don’t like to wake up more than once a day. ‘Cause when I first wake up I get that shock of who I am and everything. I really don’t like to do that more than once a day.
Things happen with all the women in his life but he is still in love with Iris and wants to get her back. More things happen and then Warren finds a girlfriend and Larry gets Iris back. It’s all kind of blasé and uninspiring.
Like Oh, God! You Devil I was somewhat bored watching this. The scenes with Warren and Larry in the park were good. And I hear those scenes were mostly improvised by the two actors. During the rest of the movie, I was like my kids…fidgety and looking at my phone.
Martin’s character is called Larry and while watching this movie I kept thinking to myself, this would be a great movie if it was a Leisure Suit Larry movie! That’s a movie I could get on board with.
The Lonely Guy hit theaters on 27 January 1984.
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5/10 stars
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