Looking for Mr. Goodbar

Most helpful review Looking for Mr. Goodbar

• When your nightlife interferes with your daylife

   

  By Midnightcheeseandbiscuits (26 reviews) from London , 27 Apr 2011

  [Highly rated reviewer]

  Ah, the halcyon days of New York City; dirty, sleezy and dangerous. The 70s; where every day could be your last and Washington Square in Manhattan’s Lower East Side was populated by the druggie underbelly rather than the affluent middle classes pushing Bugaboos around. Looking For Mr Goodbar follows the exploits of 20-something teacher Theresa Dunn (Diane Keaton) who rebels against her strict Catholic upbringing and finds herself embarking on a doomed mission to find sexual enlightenment with a succession of random suitors. The film is based on a famous murder case which was later popularised by Judith Rossner’s book of the same name. Unaware of this, I viewed it very much as an examination of women’s liberation, the breakdown of the traditional family model and of the sexual and emotional relationships involved. I only became suspicious when Keaton’s relationship with Richard Gere (his first film appearance and an obvious precursor his role as Julian in American Gigolo) turns sour and she befriends the violent, emotionally volatile and sexually ambiguous Tom Berringer in a bar. Aside from the powerful and shocking finale, director Richard Brooks sucessfully re-creates the nightlife and associated lowlife of New York City’s clubs and bars and both Keaton and Weld give strong performances. There are some nice visual touches, the script is snappy and Keaton’s Theresa is a hugely complex character who’s full of sadness, anger and love. I found it impossible not to empathise with her.
  
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