Cast: Patricia Arquette, Dermot Mulroney, Ellen DeGeneres, Mary-Louise Parker, Don Johnson
Director: Roland Joffe
Producers: Chris Daniel, Patrick McDarrah, Alexandra Milchan
Screenplay: Ron Peer and Joel Cohen & Alec Sokolow
Cinematography: John Ottman
Music: Dante Spinotti
U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers
Goodbye, Lover is a generic example of film noir. It has all the appropriate elements: a dark, suspenseful atmosphere, amoral characters who double and triple cross one another without a second thought, and femmes fatales around every corner. And, while all of this adds up to a certain level of entertainment, there's nothing especially new or noteworthy in Goodbye, Lover's presentation. The plot twists and red herrings are routine and obligatory. The film as a whole lacks inspiration; it's by-the-book movie-making from a script that pushes all the expected buttons without ever trying anything likely to open a viewer's eyes. For anyone familiar with this sort of motion picture, the sense of déjà vu is unmistakable.
As the film opens, hotshot executive Ben Dunmore (Don Johnson, who spends most of his screen time looking serious) is having an affair with Sandra (Patricia Arquette, sporting a blond Buster Brown hairdo and a lot of wrinkles around the eyes), who happens to be the wife of Ben's brother, Jake (Dermot Mulroney), an alcoholic with a bad work ethic and an even worse attitude. But, while Ben enjoys having sex with Sandra, he's not interested in a long-term relationship, and flatly rejects her suggestion that a little accident could remove Jake from the picture. Looking for something "real", Bill starts dating Peggy Blaine (Mary-Louise Parker), a co-worker with old-fashioned values. Stung and feeling rejected, Sandra decides to take revenge by telling Jake about her affair. His reaction is predictably violent. Thus begins a series of double-crosses that leads to murder and the involvement of a hard-bitten detective, Sgt. Rita Pompano (Ellen DeGeneres), whose cynicism knows no bounds.
There are some good elements to be found in Goodbye, Lover. Director Roland Joffe maintains a suitably rapid pace, and a few of the minor plot twists actually took me by surprise. Also, it's refreshing to see a movie of this sort where dead people stay dead. There are no sudden, hard-to-swallow resurrections. In this film, you can be sure that if someone falls several hundred feet, they won't show up at the climax hiding in a closet. Unfortunately, Goodbye, Lover is so intent upon keeping the plot straight that it loses sight of the characters. The script (credited to the trio of Ron Peer and Joel Cohen & Alec Sokolow) relies heavily on clichés and stock personality attributes. Since there are no compelling individuals in the film, it's difficult to become involved in the story. We end up watching from a clinical perspective, trying to identify logical flaws and guess where the screenwriters are taking us.
The cast is a mixed bag. Top-billed Patricia Arquette fails to do anything interesting with Sandra. There are two directions in which she could have taken her character - make her a sympathetic figure or drive her way over the top (like Linda Fiorentino in The Last Seduction) - yet she does neither. Consequently, Sandra is completely forgettable. Even worse is Dermot Mulroney, whose Jake is as dull as they come. Mary Louise Parker is considerably better as Peggy - she manages to be sweet when required and sexy when it's called for. The real scene-stealer, however, is Ellen DeGeneres. Frequently miscast in past film roles, here DeGeneres finds a part that suits her dry, self-deprecating style. Her Sgt. Pompano has all the best lines. (For example, on her reason for becoming a cop: "Every once in a while, I get to shoot someone." Upon finding a couple of badly burned corpses: "One's regular. The other's extra crispy.") Vincent Gallo, John Neville, and Andre Gregory (of My Dinner with Andre fame) all have interesting cameos.
Director Roland Joffe has a spotty resume. He's the man behind such well-respected films as The Killing Fields and The Mission. More recently, however, he helmed one of the worst adaptations of a classic novel: Demi Moore's version of The Scarlet Letter. This is Joffe's first venture into the realm of film noir, and it can best be regarded as an uneven affair. Despite some effectively atmospheric photography by acclaimed cinematographer Dane Spinotti, the production has a cheap look and feel (although the high-profile cast argues for a higher budget than one might initially assume). Seen on cable TV late at night, Goodbye, Lover would be a pretty good way to spend a couple of hours. Seen in a movie theater, it's a disappointment.
© 1999 James Berardinelli