Sadly Over-hyped

Beautiful, moving film.

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

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Paula McFadden (Patricia Heaton) is 36 and a little too old to be a dancer. She is left behind by her married actor boyfriend Tony DeForrest for a job in Italy. She doesn't have any money staying in the apartment with her daughter Lucy (Hallie Kate Eisenberg). It turns out that Tony sublet his apartment to Elliot Garfield (Jeff Daniels) out from under her. She refuses to leave and Elliot reluctantly agrees to let her stay.Patricia Heaton is wrong for this role. She can't pull off even a former dancer. Also I don't think that she's quite right to be Eisenberg's mom. She's much better in a soccer mom role. Daniels is charming. Eisenberg is great as the talkative little girl. The Neil Simon play is still good but everything is a little bit off. The '77 movie is perfectly fine. This feels like a faded copy. The apartment doesn't have quite the NYC feel. I do like Eisenberg with Daniels and their scene together is great. Basically the movie feels wrong but it still has the essence of a good story.

I loved the original, so I was very excited when I heard about the remake. I adore Patricia Heaton and being a hometown boy, I like Jeff Daniels. However, there is absolutely no chemistry between Heaton and Daniels. Elliot is supposed to be a struggling actor, which Dreyfus played to a "T". He had that scraggly, avant garde actor appearance. Jeff Daniels is way too clean-cut. Mason and Dreyfus are closer in height whereas Daniels is 6'3" and Heaton is 5'2. Completely awkward. Lastly, with the amazing screen chemistry was between Dreyfus and Mason, not to mention the fantastic performance by Quinn Cummings, I think this remake was doomed from the onset. It didn't help that TNT showed the original before airing the remake. Dreadful.

I love Patricia Heaton on "Raymond." When I heard she was playing Marsha Mason's role in the The Goodbye Girl" I thought it was casting genius and I am also fond of Jeff Daniels (his best work is the Woody Allen film: Purple Rose of Cairo) but I didn't see the two together.I watched with anticipation and understood in just a few minutes that they blew it. Every moment ached with mannequin-like performances even the little girl who is supposed to be a smart-Alic, is actually just smarter than the protagonist and her love interest, Daniels. This one made me angry because I kept watching thinking these two would somehow redeem themselves: but they drone on and on. Don't bother with this one: its a counterfeit. The real dollar bill is the Mason/Dreyfus version which is one of the sweetest stories on film. Remember! ...goodbye doesn't mean forever...unless you watch the Heaton/Daniels version of "The Goodbye Girl."

Patricia Heaton is the only reason to watch this movie. The kid in the movie was a bit too old to be so cute, and Jeff Daniels performance was less than his best. The acting seemed a little forced and unnatural especially Daniels and the kid. The movie needed more attention paid to Daniels' and Heaton's sexual tension to make the romantic connection that ultimately occurs more believable. It seems the romantic connection occurs more out of desperation that love. I admire Heaton for attempting this role, but it was only her sexy outfits that made this movie endurable. The often-conservative housewife from Everybody Loves Raymond expanded her role capabilities by showing how beautiful and sexy a middle-aged women can be, too bad it was wasted on this remake.