Film Review: LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR (1977) ** and a 1\2 out of *****

 

(C) Paramount.

Released to much critical acclaim and box-office success, Looking For Mr. Goodbar (1977) encapsulates everything that was wrong with the excesses of 1970's cinema. Adapted from the controversial novel of the same name, Looking For Mr. Goodbar tells the story of Theresa, a young schoolteacher in 1970's San Francisco, who rebels against her strict Catholic upbringing by slowly descending into a life of casual sex, drugs, and bohemianism.

Richard Brooks, who adapted the novel for the screen, directs with a grimy, uncontrolled style, delivering a film that is morally and psychologically shallow, shrill, and borderline repugnant. Exploitive to the core, every minority under the sun is portrayed as either a victim or unstable, and Brooks' attempt at being "hip", by drowning the film in disco tunes and jump cuts, made the film look dated as soon as it was released.

Much has been said about Diane Keaton's performance as Theresa, the sexually adventurous/aggressive protagonist, and it is true that Keaton delivers a mesmerizing performance, but it is also a smug one, and a portrayal that doesn't wholly gel with the writing, producing a character that is equal parts unlikable and tragic. A young Richard Gere as a hyperactive gigolo, and Tom Berenger as a troubled and sexually confused ex-con, are the true scene-stealers in the film.

The epitome of 1970's "socially-conscious" dramas, this is a dated and unredeeming descent into nihilism and ugliness that is not deserving of its praise. Maybe that's the reason why the film has been so hard to find for many decades.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2022.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of several short films and a feature, which was released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. He is also the host of The Dark Fantastic Podcast. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @DFantasticPodcast

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