Fantastic!

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Recently dumped by his girlfriend, struggling novelist and greeting card writer Steve Martin becomes one of New York City's Lonely Guys: unattached fellows who dine alone, sleep alone, take care of their ferns and occasionally jump off the Manhattan Bridge. Neil Simon's adaptation of Bruce Jay Friedman's book "The Lonely Guy's Book of Life", scripted by Stan Daniels and Ed. Weinberger, isn't full of great jokes, but does have enough of them to sustain enjoyment for about an hour. Once Martin becomes a success--writing a handbook for the Lonely Guys of the world--the picture has no place left to go and dies. Director Arthur Hiller probably didn't understand episodic comedy--his linking device between skits, conversations between Martin and lonesome cohort Charles Grodin, is occasionally more amusing and potentially more interesting than the main narrative--but Steve Martin is working at the peak of his charms and some of the gags have a low-key spark of genius. ** from ****

I swear I have a life. Though I just can't get enough of movies from before CGi ruined them all for story. So whenever I can I try to watch an older movie. This movie "The Lonely Guy" starring Steve Martin is such movie. Here we have a loser down on his luck. A guy who wants a girlfriend,  any girlfriend! Desperately! He got dumped and his heart broken. All that stuff. Problem is there is no real point to it.Steve Martin plays his typical 80s SNL self. Loud, obnoxious and DUMB. Like real dumb. Like his girlfriend is in bed with her Latin lover and just acts like there is nothing wrong type DUMB. Like so bad he gets into bed with her and doesn't seem to care because he has a girlfriend. Like good grief Larry (the characters name) have some self respect. He doesn't. He is DUMB.The movie goes on for sometime and he meets a woman at a coffee shop half way through the movie. She gives him his number after she calls him a lonely guy and ha HA she wrote the number on a napkin and he wipes his face because Larry is a DUMB character. So surprise he can't call her. Sees her at a restaurant, loses the number she leaves with the waiter. Then sees her again on a subway car across the station, steals a gangsters spray paint can and writes backwards where to meet on the opposing trains window. He meets here and finds out shes been married 6 times!!! Maybe fate was losing the numbers because he needs to avoid here perhaps.He doesn't care because Larry has no self respect and just wants a girlfriend, any girlfriend. They date. He falls in love. She dumps him because he is perfect for her. Larry goes on a cruise. Surprise! She's on the same cruise. New York must be a small place in the 80s? He's still in love. They go to a costume party and he talks with her, begs her to go out with him again. A friend comes over as they're talking. The friend gets hypnotized by this women. Husband number 7 he becomes. Like a DUMB guy Larry tries to break up the wedding rather than count his lucky stars he's not marrying her. He is depressed because he can't marry this indecisive manipulative woman and goes to a bridge to jump off. As he is standing there. This psychopathic women just happens to be jumping off and he happens to catch her. Her reason is she couldn't live if she's not with Larry. Yeah right sure shes a crazy manipulator after all. They live happily ever after. Movie ends. And  this happily ever after probably lasts a day until this horrible woman dumps this dumb guy and gets divorce no.8!The premise is an understandable one. We all know a severely lonely guy who'll take anyone, even a horrible person but this movie didn't do well enough to tell it. It tried to be a funny comedy and it just fell flat on its face. It was horrible and may just be Steve Martin's worse movie he's ever done (don't know, haven't seen them all).

I have to admit this plot/story is quite original, I don't remember ever seeing a movie with this subject. And I didn't know that Steve Martin was already old in 1984.Sadly, "The Lonely Guy" never delivers what it promises. I was expecting it to be a comedy with some drama scenes, but simply there's no drama scene in the whole film. It tried to be comedy repeatedly, but only some few scenes were really funny and well thought. The restaurant scene for instance was very clever, I was able to laugh since I've been through a similar situation in past days. However, the sex scene for example, was very silly. Actually, many scenes felt lame and amateurish, and that's not what I expected for this kind of comedy. All in all, the concept of this film is brilliant but I don't think it was better executed. Maybe with a better writer it would've been better.

This film is an underrated masterpiece for all concerned! Steve Martin is Larry Hubbard: Lonely Guy. Larry has no girlfriend, no friends and nowhere to stay until he meets 'uber-lonely guy' Warren Evans (Charles Grodin). Warren instructs Larry on how to survive as a 'Lonely Guy'. This includes watching football games with your plants and calling them 'guys', also, filling your apartment with cardboard cut-outs of celebrities..."Surprisingly good company". Neil Simon's script delivers gag after gag and is very poignant in parts. I particularly like " Hi, There, Grandpa! Happy Birthday To You, And If You Live Until Next Year, Happy Birthday Then, Too." Jerry Goldsmith gives us a great orchestral score, particularly in the scene where Larry is seducing his pillow. A true classic with a show stealing Grodin.Highly recommended.