The Lonely Guy (1984) User Reviews

A movie for anyone who has ever felt lonely - at least you're better off than these guys!

[Bing-18 · 7/10 · 17 May 1999]

A movie about being lonely, doesn't grab you as the obvious subject to make a comedy about does it? But this movie does wonderfully.

Great performances from Martin and Grodin especially (in what in my opinion his is best ever role) as he guides Martin's character through what it is to be a lonely guy, from cocktail parties with cardboard cut-outs of film stars, to standing in as an opening act when their friends are going to be late for dates.

This he learns so well he turns it into a best selling book and eventually finds true love. A wonderful movie that will comfort anyone who is feeling a bit down as it shows that things could be so much worse.

Starts out very funny, but then it just goes a bit flat.

[Aaron1375 · 6/10 · 6 January 2010]

This movie started out with a bang when I first saw it as a child. I was really disappointed when I could not watch it in its entirety. So when I had a chance to rent it, I jumped at the chance and I am rather sad I did. The first half was still funny, but all the stuff I missed was sadly worth missing. Not that it was all bad mind you, there was a chuckle or two in this part of the movie, but nothing compared to the laughs found in the first half of the film from when Steve finds out his girlfriend has been cheating on him, to the restaurant, to the strange jogging using fake sweat. Then a bit before he writes his book on how to be a lonely guy the movie really slows down its pace and it becomes a bit to sentimental at times, while still showing a bit of the zaniness that made the first half of the film really good. The story is about a lonely guy who starts off with a girlfriend, but ends up alone in rather funny fashion. He makes friends with another lonely guy played very well by Charles Grodin and they proceed to try and help each other out. Like I said you get some great scenes during this time and Steve meets up with a girl he for some reason cannot hook up with due to one problem after another. So in the end an okay movie, that just needed some of that energy from the first half of the film to carry over to the second.

Everybody Needs Somebody

[view_and_review · 7/10 · 2 January 2020]

Larry (Steve Martin) comes home from his greeting card writing job to find his GF in bed with another man like only Steve Martin can. Once she spells it out for him that she no longer wants him he instantly joins the ranks of the lonely guys. How will he ever survive as a lonely guy? Warren (Charles Grodin), the monotone impassionate lonely guy veteran steps in to help Larry in this new stage of his life.

But Larry can't stay lonely forever can he? It's so sad, so depressing, so... so... so... lonely.

This movie isn't a laugh-a-minute but it always stays on the plus side of humor. It doesn't fall into somberness or seriousness and it doesn't go haywire either for cheap laughs. It's an enjoyable comedy about dealing with heartache, love, and the fear of the latter causing the former.

Highly underrated

[Cablebot3000 · 7/10 · 21 August 2008]

This is a great movie that has a lot of laughs, heart and romance. A lot of guys can also relate to it. Steve Martin plays a man who is oblivious to a lot of things that revolve around him, including his wife sleeping around. He finds out first hand when walking in on her (and he ends up being thrown out, thus starting the lonely guy part). While looking for a place to stay, he meets his new best friend, Warren, who is another lonely guy. He teaches Steve about all the ways of a lonely guy. Of course, all ends well with Steve meeting a girl. Its a great movie that really should be more popular. I rate this 7/10. (my rating) Rated R for sexual content/humor, and some language

Even Steve Martin couldn't save the last 45 minutes.

[ASuiGeneris · 6/10 · 1 January 2020]

The Lonely Guy (1984) Director: Arthur Hiller Watched: 12/26/19 Rating: 3/5

"I don't like to take naps. I don't like to wake up more than once a day. 'Cause when I first wake up I get that shock of who I am and everything. I... I really don't like to do that more than once a day."

A favorite quote, which shows how this film managed to be funny although it did at times go maybe too far in minimizing or making light of suicide (other examples include the nonchalant freak show of falling bodies on the Manhattan Bridge, suicides reported casually on the radio after the weather announcements). But this is a black comedy after all and Steve Martin makes up for this with his hilarious shenanigans. Favorite shticks included: spotlight activated for a single diner; psychiatrist via apartment call box; automated chess machine friend; ferns as friends; fake sweat for possible running meet-cute; party cutouts from "The Lonely Guy Store"; renting a guy to talk to your girlfriend or wife so she won't wait for you alone in a bar; donating blood in order to lay in bed with a woman; and man on foot "pulled over" by a police officer who then"escorts" him on foot, all along regular traffic on the move!

Steve Martin is certainly in his element and is slowed down only by the subpar writing. Which makes sense as to why he usually writes and directs the films he stars in. I have no doubt that "The Lonely Guy" would have been much better received if this were the case. The first 45 minutes of this film were outstanding- Hubbard is a newly minted Lonely Guy, does his best to cope and find a new girl, and his antics keep us engaged and laughing. But the story quickly runs out of steam after he gets inexplicably hooked on Iris and the writing loses its wittiness.

Cameos by Merv Griffin and Doctor Joyce Brothers were a nice touch but not quite enough to save the latter half of the film.

#cameo #comedy #dog #loneliness #NewYork #meta #narration #onaboat #pagetoscreen #publishingindustry #romanticcomedy #rooftopscene #subway #suicide #wedding

All my friends are made of card

[tieman64 · 20 June 2012]

Directed by a workmanlike Arthur Hiller, "The Lonely Guy" stars Steve Martin as a lonely greeting-card writer who struggles to meet women. His partner in arms is Warren (memorably played by Charles Grodin), another lonely heart. The duo spend the film lost in depression, morbidly discussing their futures, love lives and suicidal funks. The film's blend of slapstick, anarchy and dour humour recalls early Woody Allen.

"Look at that guy, he's got a girl. He wasn't born with his arm around her - he must have met her somewhere!" Warren moans. Luckily their perpetual bachelorhood ends with the introduction of several female characters, none of whom are particularly well written but all of whom who point the film toward a generic happy ending. The film works best when its aiming for morose comedy. As a romance it falls flat.

7.5/10 – Fairly original plot undermined by formulaic romantic subplots. Worth one viewing.

Another mixed review, and video disappointment

[TVholic · 7/10 · 17 April 1999]

The Lonely Guy is often quite funny but unfortunately sometimes dreadfully dull. Like Jim Abrahams and later Mel Brooks movies, this is classic Neil Simon where he throws rapid-fire jokes at you. Some hit and some miss, but you don't have to wait long for the next one. The scene where he dines alone in a fancy restaurant was one of the funniest. Somebody else seemed to think so, too, as it was copied almost verbatim for an Australian TV commercial two years later. Imitation must be the sincerest form of flattery.

As a New Yorker, I liked seeing the city in this movie. It's a somewhat dirtier but more variegated New York than in movies like "Ghost" or "When Harry Met Sally," which spent too much time in tony neighborhoods like Tribeca, the Village and Midtown.

Unfortunately, the definitive home video version does not exist and probably never will. The laserdisc is marred by a bad transfer and excessive, very objectionable video and audio noise. This may be the dreaded laser rot in action or just bad production. The DVD is beautiful, with a crisp transfer and no noticeable noise. But its 1.85:1 widescreen presentation is in the form of matting/masking the 1.33:1 Academy Frame, so instead of showing more picture, it actually shows less than the cassette and the laserdisc. The matting makes the "widescreen" frame feel distractingly cramped, with characters' heads continually butting up against the top. One joke in particular suffers badly: When Larry is laying on a bed talking to a woman, he's bare-chested in his fantasy to imply they're in bed together. But the widescreen version shows only his head, so the joke is weakened. Too bad a full-frame DVD will probably never be made as this is one of the few times when a full-frame presentation would have been preferable.

Slight but amiable episodic comedy with funny moments and universal truths...

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 2 April 2017]

Recently dumped by his girlfriend, struggling novelist and greeting card writer Steve Martin becomes one of New York City's Lonely Guys: unattached fellows who dine alone, sleep alone, take care of their ferns and occasionally jump off the Manhattan Bridge. Neil Simon's adaptation of Bruce Jay Friedman's book "The Lonely Guy's Book of Life", scripted by Stan Daniels and Ed. Weinberger, isn't full of great jokes, but does have enough of them to sustain enjoyment for about an hour. Once Martin becomes a success--writing a handbook for the Lonely Guys of the world--the picture has no place left to go and dies. Director Arthur Hiller probably didn't understand episodic comedy--his linking device between skits, conversations between Martin and lonesome cohort Charles Grodin, is occasionally more amusing and potentially more interesting than the main narrative--but Steve Martin is working at the peak of his charms and some of the gags have a low-key spark of genius. ** from ****

Painful to watch--and I like that in a comedy!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 10 June 2007]

This style of movie from Steve Martin is surely not everyone's taste, as the overall rating on IMDb isn't particularly high and this movie has been pretty much forgotten by most people. However, I have always liked this film and have seen it several times--even though my wife thinks the humor is, at times, very painful to watch. I actually like that kind of humor on occasion and when horrible things keep happening to nice guys Steve Martin and Charles Grodin, I laugh while others might feel sorry for the schmoes. What I particularly like are the very surreal moments buried within a somewhat conventional film about Martin's lonely bachelor life. My two favorite skits were his dining alone at a restaurant (a classic) and when he's up on the roof screaming about how meaningless his life is...only to then see EXACTLY the same thing going on rooftop after rooftop across the city. In addition, while painful, there is also a wonderful likability and charm about the film and the performances of the leads. A nice and funny film but not necessarily for all tastes.

The Lonely Guy

[d_m_s · 6/10 · 22 January 2014]

Steve Martin finds himself transported into the world of the Lonely Guy when he finds his wife in bed with another man and she kicks poor old Martin out.

Martin makes a new best friend in Charles Grodin, another lonely guy. Grodin teaches Martin about the world New York's lonely guy's and together they each try to find a new love.

It's well played by both Martin & Grodin, there are some good gags and very amusing moments in the fist hour of the film. For the last 20 minutes or so it becomes a bit less fun and feels a little bit like it's dragging.

I was hoping to see a great comedy performance from Grodin, who I recently discovered via his excellent performance in Taking Care of Business (he was the only good thing about that film) but here his character was very subdued and didn't really have any funny lines. Not his fault, obviously, but feels like a bit of a waste of talent.

Decent film over all, which I will enjoy re-watching at some point in the future.

Lame, lousy and limp

[gcd70 · 2/10 · 8 June 2008]

Who ever had the idea to film Bruce Jay Friedman's book "The Lonely Guy's Book of Life" is most likely out of work now. None of what was probably a wry, dry, occasionally witty user's guide is conveyed by Ed Weinberger and Stan Daniel's script (adapted by Neil Simon). Instead we get a lame, lousy, limp comedy with little to laugh at.

Steve Martin tries his darnedest to give us a chuckle, and his infectious persona almost saves something from this flick. Alas he, and the likable Charles Grodin, can rescue nought from a pic whose one reasonable joke dies of loneliness.

Also stars Judith Ivey and Dr. Joyce Brothers.

Saturday, May 10, 1997 - Video

True to life but a farce

[roberteleenyc-53612 · 10/10 · 23 December 2019]

Funny how I watched this at 13/14 years old in 1990 on TV and I became a lonely guy myself...even worse... A gay one. Even harder to meet someone. I love this movie. Something very warm about it.

relationships of humor

[lee_eisenberg · 6/10 · 25 September 2012]

"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.

lost it somewhere along the way

[chris_mac-2 · 4/10 · 13 May 2008]

this started off so well. could have been great... and then seemed to be a never ending cascade of semi-attached sketches...

and the'orgasm'scene... was there a point to that... or for that matter a gag? there just seemed to be far too many moments like this. wafer thin gags with no reason for existence.

i DID like the holding hands under the toilet stall shot. that will linger.

the cast actually did verywell i think with what they had.

i like Steve martin, this just lost it somewhere along the way..

chris mac

Two Movies

[yisraelh · 9 August 2005]

Other people here have commented on the unevenness of this movie. What an understatement. I found the first half of the movie funny, poignant, delightful. Then, all of a sudden, the movie becomes an unfunny, painful bore. It's amazing. The contrast between the two halves is so stark, it's hard to believe it's the same movie. I don't ever recall such a split between two halves of a movie. Ever.

And in the second half, there is a scene in bed involving the 'o' word, that is very painfully unfunny and completely inane.

But what do I know.

Two scenes that really stick out in my mind:

1. When the girl says to Steve: "Nice guys don't stay lonely for long" -- so sweet!

2. When Steve realizes he missed out on a golden opportunity to "get lucky" with a pretty woman. That was wickedly funny!

Early, and typically zany, Steve Martin comedy

[adamscastlevania2 · 6/10 · 23 October 2014]

(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.

We were very today people....

[FlashCallahan · 7/10 · 24 April 2022]

When Larry Hubbard finds his girlfriend in bed with another man he is forced to begin a new life as single.

But since he can't bear being on his own he tries to court Iris who is not however interested in him.

Larry begins writing a book on his experience as a single which unexpectedly becomes a best seller.

He becomes rich and famous and even his relationship with Iris can begin on a new basis.

The Lonely Guy is a very weird comedy. It's funny, veering toward sight gags and jokes ala Airplane, but all the while, holds the air of a very depressing film.

Martin is wonderful as Larry, one of his lesser known films, and it's clear to see why, it does make a connection with people, especially those whom are not in a relationship, it makes you breath a sigh of relief, knowing that you're not that pathetic and alone.

But then Larry hits the big time, and earns himself a mint by writing a book. So he may be lonely, but he has money and a nice apartment.

Surely he cannot be too lonely after this? The mind boggles.

Grodin is also brilliant as Larry's equally lonely friend, and they spend much of the movie maundering to each other, and trying to out depress one another.

Believe me, if you have just come out of a relationship, see Airplane! Or The Naked Gun. This is a really well made funny film, but it's so desperately depressing.

" I'm so ronery."

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 23 May 2015]

With a poll coming up on IMDbs Classic Film board for the best titles of 1984 I started to search around in my DVD folders,and I spotted a Steve Martin film which appeared to be really over looked,which led to me getting ready to find out how lonely things could be.

The plot:

Getting thrown out by his girlfriend Danielle, Larry Hubbard finds himself joining a growing part of society called "The lonely guy" which is men/women who don't have any friend/family/partner and spend all their time completely on their own.Meeting fellow lonely guy Warren Evans,Hubbard starts getting into the lonely guy lifestyle,from buying a plant who he can talk to,to getting cardboard cut-outs of celebrities who he can "invite" round for parties.Whilst Evans accepts his place in society,Hubbard decides that he must try to be the lonely guy who loses his loneliness.

View on the film:

In the first half of their adaptation of Bruce Jay Friedman's novel The Lonely Guy's Book of Life,writers Neil Simon/Stan Daniels & Ed. Weinberger give the screenplay a witty,fast-pace sketch Comedy outline,with Hubbard learning the lonely guy lifestyle step by step,from pretending to be a food critic in order to eat on his own,to buying "lonely sweat" in the hope of catching the eyes of a lonely girl.Whilst the second half's focus on Hubbard's attempts to get out of the lifestyle does lead to the film slowing down,the writers make sure to keep the laughs rolling with a jet-black Comedy edge,which goes from lonely guys all using the same suicide bridge,to a lonely howl on the rooftops.

Given a misty Fantasy backdrop by director Arthur Hiller,Steve Martin gives an excellent performance as Larry Hubbard,with Martin making sure that no matter how left-field Hubbard's antics are,that Hubbard is always grounded with a desire to get rid of his loneliness.Joining Martin, Charles Grodin gives a hilarious performance as Warren Evans,who Grodin shows to be extremely uncomfortable in his own skin,whilst the pretty Judith Ivey gives some sassy charm as Iris,as Hubbard discovers how lonely things can get.

Don't mix Neil Simon and Steve Martin

[LCShackley · 3/10 · 28 November 2007]

This has to be one of Steve Martin's worst movies, and the main reason is that he's working from a hackneyed script created by Neil Simon, along with a couple of TV sitcom writers. The whole thing seems like it came out of a meeting where a staff of writers for a variety show were trying to come up with funny situations involving Lonely Guys. Some of the situations would have worked nicely as a blackout on a TV show, but in a feature film they just seem like unconnected building blocks.

The script doesn't play to Martin's strengths (wacky physical humor or surrealistic verbal humor), so he's playing a role that any bland actor - picture someone like Tony Roberts - could have done almost as well. Charles Grodin is merely an annoyance as the one-dimensional geeky lonely guy, and the main female characters are also static and uninteresting.

Even Jerry Goldsmith, who has beefed up many a marginal movie with a good score, goes vanilla here and gives us a bunch of goopy 80s cues, sounding like Dave Grusin on Prozac. The vocal numbers are horrendous, especially the screeching opening credit song by America, featuring a bad 80s drum machine/synth track. If you want a better early Steve Martin film, pick either the one BEFORE this ("Man with two Brains") or the one AFTER ("All of Me"), both of which are much better suited to his personality.

For "Anyone Who Had a Heart"

[sopher43 · 9/10 · 1 July 2005]

I'd call this a small masterpiece.

I usually watch just ten minutes of a movie, find it boring, then discard it. Or, I fast forward through great big sections of a film and get satisfaction from the leftover bits and pieces. With this one I never once reached for the fast forward button. It is charming, touching, lovely, hilarious and satisfying. One cares deeply for the characters played by Martin and Grodin and wants happiness to come their way.

The sadness never overwhelms because the lighthearted scenes make for a perfect balance.

You could go through a whole row at Blockbuster and not find a gem like this one. If you have even just a touch of a tender heart, by all means rent this one.

some fun wackiness but peters out

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 14 March 2015]

This is dedicated to lonely guys everywhere. Larry Hubbard (Steve Martin) is an aspiring writer working at a greetings card company. He finds his girlfriend Danielle in bed with another man and she kicks him out. He befriends lonely guy Warren Evans (Charles Grodin) from the park bench. He meets Iris (Judith Ivey) at a diner but he smudges her number. He meets her again and loses her number again. She breaks up with him and he writes a book about his experience. He becomes a best seller.

It has a quirky original sense of spoof humor. This Arthur Hiller film reminds me of Mel Brooks. It's wacky light fun for a little while but it gets a bit repetitive. Martin and the sad Grodin have some nice comic chemistry. Judith Ivey is not funny enough. She needs to be as wacky as he is. She needs to be a great comedian. She's too limited. The perfect way for her character to go is for her to be a lonely gal. Even the sad Grodin feels repetitive with their pontifications.

"The Lonely Dumb Guy With No Self Respect" would have been a more accurate title.

[picturetaker · 3/10 · 29 September 2016]

I swear I have a life. Though I just can't get enough of movies from before CGi ruined them all for story. So whenever I can I try to watch an older movie. This movie "The Lonely Guy" starring Steve Martin is such movie. Here we have a loser down on his luck. A guy who wants a girlfriend,  any girlfriend! Desperately! He got dumped and his heart broken. All that stuff. Problem is there is no real point to it.

Steve Martin plays his typical 80s SNL self. Loud, obnoxious and DUMB. Like real dumb. Like his girlfriend is in bed with her Latin lover and just acts like there is nothing wrong type DUMB. Like so bad he gets into bed with her and doesn't seem to care because he has a girlfriend. Like good grief Larry (the characters name) have some self respect. He doesn't. He is DUMB.

The movie goes on for sometime and he meets a woman at a coffee shop half way through the movie. She gives him his number after she calls him a lonely guy and ha HA she wrote the number on a napkin and he wipes his face because Larry is a DUMB character. So surprise he can't call her. Sees her at a restaurant, loses the number she leaves with the waiter. Then sees her again on a subway car across the station, steals a gangsters spray paint can and writes backwards where to meet on the opposing trains window. He meets here and finds out shes been married 6 times!!! Maybe fate was losing the numbers because he needs to avoid here perhaps.

He doesn't care because Larry has no self respect and just wants a girlfriend, any girlfriend. They date. He falls in love. She dumps him because he is perfect for her. Larry goes on a cruise. Surprise! She's on the same cruise. New York must be a small place in the 80s? He's still in love. They go to a costume party and he talks with her, begs her to go out with him again. A friend comes over as they're talking. The friend gets hypnotized by this women. Husband number 7 he becomes. Like a DUMB guy Larry tries to break up the wedding rather than count his lucky stars he's not marrying her. He is depressed because he can't marry this indecisive manipulative woman and goes to a bridge to jump off. As he is standing there. This psychopathic women just happens to be jumping off and he happens to catch her. Her reason is she couldn't live if she's not with Larry. Yeah right sure shes a crazy manipulator after all. They live happily ever after. Movie ends. And  this happily ever after probably lasts a day until this horrible woman dumps this dumb guy and gets divorce no.8!

The premise is an understandable one. We all know a severely lonely guy who'll take anyone, even a horrible person but this movie didn't do well enough to tell it. It tried to be a funny comedy and it just fell flat on its face. It was horrible and may just be Steve Martin's worse movie he's ever done (don't know, haven't seen them all).

Underrated

[MJB784 · 8/10 · 23 May 2018]

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.

Funny enough

[sergelamarche · 6/10 · 1 September 2022]

Some lame joke, some good jokes. A bit unequal but I definitely appreciated the effort. Films are much more licked nowaday even with test audiences that changes endings so it feels somewhat refreshing to see a brave film like this not afraid to give its all. I find Steve Martin always unequal. Ilke how the bad lover was not too shy and funny. I like the surprises. I liked less some jokes that fell flat. I was guessing the lonely guy would jump on the boat his girl was in but it was the contrary that happened. But I knew the dog would reappear and be fine no matter what. Overall a good time spent watching this... alone, haha!

Boring and depressing comedy

[sibarkn · 3/10 · 10 June 2019]

Maybe this movie wanted to be satirical and funny on a second degree, but it's just weird and depressing (it's about loneliness, guys who don't have it with women). And definitely not my kind of humor, on a slow pace... i only enjoyed the mark of the 80s on it (design and costumes).