Stephen Schiff

“At first, Marsha Mason's Paula McFadden appears just as fascinating [as Dreyfuss's Elliot.] An aging hoofer who's been loved and lift by a succession of handsome actors, she's developed a set of defenses that would defeat a storm trooper -- though trouper Dreyfuss finally manages to break through. Mason, Neil Simon's wife, is an exceptionally warm, vulnerable, naturalistic performer who can bring tears to your eyes almost at will. But Simon has misconceived her character. To be appealing enough to match Dreyfuss's Garfield, Paula should be witty and somewhat stoic, a plucky, graceful woman struggling to bear her growing hopelessness. Instead, she's a whiner who groans her way through dance classes and complains her way through pre-audition butterflies. "I hate that goddam it's-wonderful-to-be-alive feeling," she says. No wonder actors find her such dreary company.

“…. Simon's conservatism extends to his treatment of characters…. Mason's Paula is absurdly retrograde; she changes from a whiner before true love arrives to a bland little hausfrau afterwards, redecorating the living room while her man is bringing home the bacon. Although viewers may be warmed when her gloom lifts, many of them will find Paula just as pathetic as before. Why is she so docile? Has she decided that she's devoid of talent and must depend on a man for salvation? Whatever the answer, even half-hearted feminists may wind up feeling they've been had.

“Still, The Goodbye Girl is an extremely charming bad movie … It gets some of its tears by honorable means -- the long, sweet surrender of Mason to Dreyfuss, for instance -- and many of the comic situations sparkle….”

Stephen Schiff
Boston Phoenix, Dec. 20, 1977
[left out little from last paragraph of review?]