The Goodbar Collection

Drama

Crime

Looking for Mr. Goodbar

Paramount Pictures

Freddie Fields Productions

United States of America

English

Diane Keaton

Tuesday Weld

William Atherton

Richard Kiley

Richard Gere

Alan Feinstein

Tom Berenger

Priscilla Pointer

Laurie Prange

Joel Fabiani

Julius Harris

Richard Bright

LeVar Burton

Marilyn Coleman

Carole Mallory

Mary Ann Mallis

Jolene Dellenbach

Lou Fant

Eddie Garrett

Alex Courtney

Brian Dennehy

Richard Venture

Robert John Burke

Robert Fields

Richard O'Brien

Anthony 'Tony' Hawkins

Caren Kaye

Dick Spangler

Elizabeth Cheshire

Marilyn Roberts

R.J. Adams

Rutanya Alda

Bob Harks

John Lafferty

Bill Willens

Richard Brooks

Judith Rossner

William A. Fraker

George Grenville

Freddie Fields

Artie Kane

Marion Dougherty

Judith Lamb

Edward C. Carfagno

Ruby R. Levitt

Judith A. Cory

Susan Germaine

Charles H. Schram

David Silver

Lindsley Parsons Jr.

Alan Brimfeld

Tom Fairbanks

Mentor Huebner

Thomas L. Roysden

Michael Galloway

Robert W. Glass Jr.

Al Overton Jr.

Richard Portman

Kay Rose

Victoria Sampson

Curly Thirlwell

James M. Halty

Bennie Moore

Ron Stein

Arthur Brooker

Leslie Hill

Bill Krattiger

Nick McLean

Doug Pentek

Ronald L. Vargas Jr.

Jodie Lynn Tillen

Larry Grenville

Nancy Sammons

Don Dittmar

Joan Biel

Marshall Schlom

We're all hurt someplace and we're all looking for a painkiller. 

Looking for Mr. Goodbar is directed by Richard Brooks and Brooks adapts the screenplay from the Judith Rossner novel of the same name. It stars Diane Keaton, Tuesday Weld, William Atherton, Richard Kiley, Richard Gere, Alan Feinstein and Tom Berenger. Music is by Artie Kane and cinematography by William A. Fraker. 

Theresa Dunn (Keaton) is a dedicated schoolteacher to deaf children by day, but at night she cruises bars looking for abusive men with whom she can engage in progressively violent sexual encounters.

First off it should be noted that the Judith Rosner novel is based on the real life case of the 1973 murder of New York City schoolteacher Roseann Quinn. Also of note is that Rossner was not enamoured with this filmic adaptation.

What we have here is a tragic tale set in the promiscuous pre AIDS era of 1970s America. It's a bleak observation of the swinging singles scene of the era, providing caution of patriarch pressures, religious suffocation and the dangers of casual encounters for sexual gratification. Is it any wonder the big hitting critics of the time were nonplussed by it?...

The pic generated a lot of buzz for handsome new actor, Richard Gere, even if he does overact, it actually works in context to the brashness of the period. It also introduced Tom Berenger, in what is a frightening portrayal of a very sexually confused man. Tuesday Weld got a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for playing Theresa's sister, which was richly deserved, so much so one wishes she was in the film more. 

Yet it's Keaton who absolutely shines here, lifting an overlong picture to greater heights. Proving she had more in her armoury than merely playing kooks, Keaton imbues Theresa with a desperation and loneliness that is shattering for viewing purpose. The whole narrative bites with a crushing inevitability, that the nihilistic back drop can only bring pain and misery, and so it proves. 

Richard Brooks should have sliced at lest thirty minutes from the run time, especially given that the "Theresa fantasy sequences" just come off as pointless and take one out of the heartbeat of the story. Yet this is still a fine movie, not one to be cheered up by of course, but poignant, relative and with the real life story at the core, important. 7/10

Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) Original Trailer

Vinegar Syndrome Promo Trailer

Larry Karaszewski on LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR

Best Movies

Looking for Mr. Goodbar

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Diane Keaton

Tuesday Weld

William Atherton

Richard Kiley

Richard Gere

Alan Feinstein

Tom Berenger

Priscilla Pointer

Laurie Prange

Joel Fabiani

Box office

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