The Lonely Guy

Running time: 90 minutes

Genre: Romance/Comedy

Release date: January 27^th 1984

Star rating: 4/5

Director: Arthur Hiller

Writers: Neil Simon (screenplay) based on the book The Lonely Guy’s Book of Life by Bruce Jay Friedman

Cast: Steve Martin, Charles Grodin, Judith Ivey and Robyn Douglass

‘You’re not going to be lonely forever, are you? I’m not’ so says the hopeful greeting cards writer Larry Hubbard (Martin). After finding his girlfriend in bed with another man, Larry is forced to begin a new life as a single man. At the pit of his despair, he writes a book titled The Lonely Guy’s Guide to Life which becomes an instant bestseller and hurls him into an entirely different experience of life.

Set in New York and based on the book ‘The Lonely Guy’s Book of Life’ by Bruce Jay Friedman, The Lonely Guy is a charming, quirky romantic comedy that perfectly portrays the trials and tribulations of the single man. As such it could be seen as a male version of Sex and the City, but this would be doing the film a disservice as, although there are comparison to be drawn from the two – both follow the lives of singles living in New York City and are told from the point of view of a narrator – Lonely Guy is a much more witty and heartfelt effort that is able to pick out the insecurities that lurk inside all of us and presents them for our own amusement.

There is no better example of this then when Larry enters a restaurant and announces he is dining alone at which point he is placed in a spotlight as all the other diners stare at him in un-merciful silence.

Steve Martin is an excellent casting as the eternal optimist Larry Hubbard as he pursues his aloof love interest Iris (Ivey). By effortlessly exuding boyish charm, Martin makes the pitiful lonely guy even more engaging and w e are with him every step of the way in his un-ceasing campaign to attract Iris – even when he goes as far as spraying fake sweat on himself in an unsuccessful attempt to impress her.    

However, the stand out performance has to be Charles Grodin as principal lonely guy Warren Evans. Acting as Larry’s downcast friend and mentor in the art of being a lonely guy, Grodin is the perfect counter-point to Martins eternal optimist playing his role in pure dead pan style. Weather he is introducing us to his fern plants (which he calls his guys) or throwing a party where the only guests are cardboard cut-outs of celebrities, Grodin provides instant comic relief at times when the film is in danger of becoming too dramatic and downbeat.

If there is one weak point to this film, it would be the plot which does not live up to its early promise. Larry and Iris get together too early leaving them with nowhere to go and thus the plot quickly becomes repetitive as the two break up several times as the writer struggles to find ideas to expand the plot.

Never-the-less, this does not prevent the story from building to a classic rom-com ending that will leave the audiences knowing that, no matter how lonely they feel, they’re not the only ones.