The Lonely Guy (1984)

(On Cable TV, July 2020) The mid-1980s were about as good as things ever got in terms of pure film comedy from Steve Martin, and The Lonely Guy is a fairly representative example (I didn’t say the best) of the kind of comedy he was turning going for—familiar yet off-kilter, self-satisfied, ingratiating but quite funny if you’re on the right wavelength. This time, Martin turns to romantic comedy as the clothesline for the silliness in store—focusing on the plight of a newly single guy trying to find love in Manhattan. The difference between 1980s Martin and later-day Martin is that the earlier comedian wasn’t afraid to be more adventurous in his type of humour. Not everything works, obviously, but with director Arthur Hiller, there’s an effort to try a few things, be absurd, play with expectations and even revisit old gags. I found it all quite amusing. I remembered the restaurant “dining alone” scene from childhood, but not the rest of The Lonely Guy.