The Lonely Guy (1984)

You won't be disappointed!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Don't Believe the Hype

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

You need to see this underrated Steve Martin comedy from the 80s called The Lonely Guy about a guy who lives by himself and wrote a bestseller about lonlieness and became a success. It's really funny.

(55%) For a comedy about abject loneliness, lost love, combined with a strong element of suicide, this is quite a bold interesting move, and largely it works. Martin is great, James Grodin provides a good share of the better laughs in fine support, the pacing is decent, and even if it's uneven from the very beginning it still worked out miles better than it could have given the quite dark premise as it never really allows itself to get too bleak or down hearted. The romantic main plot is as loopy as everything else in this almost cartoonish New York city setting, but a good heart keeps everything running and largely together.

I had forgotten that I had watched this film before, and spent a boring 90 minutes watching it again. You can't blame me for forgetting, because it's a forgettable film. In fact, for much of the 90 minutes it's not a film at all, but more a series of almost disconnected skits.I like Steve Martin. And I like most of his films. But every once in a while I think he appeared in awful films. This is one of them. It's just plain boring.Steve Martin plays a guy here who deserves to be "The Lonely Guy". I guess in that sense it's a brilliant performance...because he is boring. His boring-ness is exceeded only by the performance of Charles Grodin. Grodin has good parts in a number of movies, but here he is way over top in terms of being boring. Interesting to see Steve Lawrence in a film. It's not a good sign when cameo performances (in this case Merv Griffin, Dr. Joyce Brothers, and Loni Anderson) are more interesting than the film itself. In fact, about the only moment that actually made me smile was when Grodin's character actually falls in love with Dr. Joyce Brothers.This is not the worst film I ever watched, but it may be the worst film I ever finished watching. There's a whole world of entertainment choices out there. I wouldn't recommend this as a choice you should take.

"The Lonely Guy" isn't as funny as some of Steve Martin's other movies, but it probably wasn't supposed to be since it focuses more on relationships. Martin plays a guy who comes home to find his lover in bed with another man, and sets out to find someone else. Assuming that ferns and dogs aren't the only options.This movie does come across as one of Martin's more serious roles. "Grand Canyon" (about race relations in the 1990s), "...And the Band Played On" (about the spread of AIDS) and "The Spanish Prisoner" (about a con game) were his most serious roles, while this one still tends more towards comedy. The strength definitely lies in Martin's character's evolution from complete loner to a man actively in search of a soul mate. Some scenes are obviously thrown in for comic relief. I found the funniest scenes to be the fancy restaurant and the bridge. It's not a great movie, but OK.Also starring Charles Grodin, Judith Ivey and Steve Lawrence, with guest appearances by Merv Griffin, Joyce Brothers and Loni Anderson.