The Goodbye Girl

Richard Dreyfuss won a well-deserved Oscar for his touching portrayal of Elliot Garfield, a struggling actor who is thrown together in a shared apartment with tough-minded ex-Broadway dancer Paula McFadden (Marsha Mason) and her precocious daughter Lucy (Quinn Cummings) in director Herbert Ross's hit 1977 film based on Neil Simon's play. Watching the film some 30 years later, the opening scenes establishing Paula and Lucy feel dated and overly cute, but once Dreyfuss makes his memorable entrance, this engaging story of a blossoming romance picks up considerably, as practical Paula struggles to tolerate roommate Elliot's eccentricities, which include nude meditation and late-night acoustic guitar-playing as a sleeping aid. Also nabbing Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Actress (Mason), Supporting Actress (Cummings), and Screenplay, The Goodbye Girl makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)