The Lonely Guy

Very strange film which oscillates so wildly between surreal farce and bitter melancholy that the result is almost impossible to digest, though Martin tries hard (a little too hard) to keep up the energy. Salvaged mostly by Grodin's quite extraordinary, beautifully realised supporting comic performance; if Grodin and Martin had swapped roles, the movie may have been a much greater success.

ger; [The Lonely Guy; ein single kommt selten allein]; ein mann findet seine freundin im bett mit einem anderen und beginnt daraufhin ein neues leben als single - bei welchem er viele neue erfahrungen macht.;

Viewed September 16, 2016. Not quite the lost Steve Martin classic I was looking for, but it's still a successful entry into the canon of mainstream anti-comedy he was frequently starring in at the time. Intelligent stupidity, extremely broad in its approach but with plenty of unique set-ups. The film's best asset is Charles Grodin - totally one of the great comic actors, he slips into a subdued, quietly hilarious persona as quite possibly the loneliest guy New York City has ever seen.

Here's a refreshingly broad screwball comedy, rooted in a universal kind of human agony, constructed out of disguised satire and freely seasoned with countless Zucker-style sight gags. And it's carried with typical briskness by Arthur Hiller, a solid and undistinguished director, most of whose success has been with light comedy such as this. As can be seen in the Wilder-Pryor teamings or the original In-Laws, he has a basic flair for it. And you can't go wrong with a theme song by America.

Mostly lame comedy salvaged by a good premise, some funny scenes (the lonely guys calling from the rooftops, the suicide bridge) and a terrific performance from Charles Grodin.

It was very funny but also kinda shitty

The lion's share of this is right where you'd expect an '84 Steve Martin film to be, throwing around hilariously silly (and worryingly accurate) gags left, right and centre. Unfortunately the final half-hour feels like it was written by someone else, adopting a bland romantic storyline and doing away with almost all jokes. Grodin is worth noting as an even lonelier Lonely Guy, giving a pitch-perfect performance to create both an outrageously pathetic yet somehow believable character.

Steve Martin pretty much at his best.