Anime gemelle

The reasonable sprinkling of chuckles in this light comedy about loneliness in New York is ably augmented by Charles Grodin, displaying a hitherto undisclosed talent for geekery. As with all Steve Martin efforts, this one veers towards sentimentality and sports an unearned happy ending. And that's about it.

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 ****

Larry (Steve Martin) comes home from his greeting card writing job to find his GF in bed with another man like only Steve Martin can. Once she spells it out for him that she no longer wants him he instantly joins the ranks of the lonely guys. How will he ever survive as a lonely guy? Warren (Charles Grodin), the monotone impassionate lonely guy veteran steps in to help Larry in this new stage of his life.

But Larry can't stay lonely forever can he? It's so sad, so depressing, so... so... so... lonely.

This movie isn't a laugh-a-minute but it always stays on the plus side of humor. It doesn't fall into somberness or seriousness and it doesn't go haywire either for cheap laughs. It's an enjoyable comedy about dealing with heartache, love, and the fear of the latter causing the former.

This movie started out with a bang when I first saw it as a child. I was really disappointed when I could not watch it in its entirety. So when I had a chance to rent it, I jumped at the chance and I am rather sad I did. The first half was still funny, but all the stuff I missed was sadly worth missing. Not that it was all bad mind you, there was a chuckle or two in this part of the movie, but nothing compared to the laughs found in the first half of the film from when Steve finds out his girlfriend has been cheating on him, to the restaurant, to the strange jogging using fake sweat. Then a bit before he writes his book on how to be a lonely guy the movie really slows down its pace and it becomes a bit to sentimental at times, while still showing a bit of the zaniness that made the first half of the film really good. The story is about a lonely guy who starts off with a girlfriend, but ends up alone in rather funny fashion. He makes friends with another lonely guy played very well by Charles Grodin and they proceed to try and help each other out. Like I said you get some great scenes during this time and Steve meets up with a girl he for some reason cannot hook up with due to one problem after another. So in the end an okay movie, that just needed some of that energy from the first half of the film to carry over to the second.

A movie about being lonely, doesn't grab you as the obvious subject to make a comedy about does it? But this movie does wonderfully.

Great performances from Martin and Grodin especially (in what in my opinion his is best ever role) as he guides Martin's character through what it is to be a lonely guy, from cocktail parties with cardboard cut-outs of film stars, to standing in as an opening act when their friends are going to be late for dates.

This he learns so well he turns it into a best selling book and eventually finds true love. A wonderful movie that will comfort anyone who is feeling a bit down as it shows that things could be so much worse.