The Lonely Guy

Directed by Arthur Hiller, The Lonely Guy follows Steve Martin’s Larry Hubbard as he embarks on a journey of self-discovery after he’s dumped by girlfriend Danielle (Robyn Douglass). It’s a reasonable-enough premise that’s employed to watchable yet entirely unremarkable effect by Hiller, as the filmmaker, armed with a screenplay by Ed. Weinberger and Stan Daniels, delivers an oddball, excessively surreal comedy that is, for much of its languid running time, far too subdued to make anything resembling a memorable impact – with the arms-length atmosphere perpetuated by a continuing emphasis on jokes and gags of a thoroughly ineffective nature. (This is particularly true of an ongoing bit involving Larry’s efforts at making his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Judith Ivey’s Iris, have an orgasm.) There’s little doubt, then, that The Lonely Guy‘s extremely mild success is due primarily to Martin’s affable, charismatic performance and the inclusion of a few compelling periphery elements, with this particularly true of Charles Grodin’s irresistible turn as Larry’s sad sack best friend, which ultimately does, in the final analysis, cement the picture’s place as a decent-enough endeavor that evaporates from one’s mind almost immediately after it’s concluded.

**1/2 out of ****