Goodbye Lover

[1999, Movie, R, 102 mins]

Goodbye Lover: Review

Hired hand: Vincent Gallo with Patricia Arquette

This self-conscious erotic thriller was made before the similarly pulpy WILD THINGS, but took a full two years to straggle into theaters: Frankly, it has "video rental" written all over it. The twisty, turny plot revolves around four avaricious Angelenos: Sharp-dressed advertising whiz Ben Dunmore (Don Johnson) is vigorously breaking the commandment that deals with coveting your brother's wife. Scrumptious adulteress Sandra (Patricia Arquette) is hooked on nourishing her inner predator and the soundtrack to The Sound of Music; her husband Jake (Dermot Mulroney), a handsome souse, doesn't know his marriage is on the rocks and appears not to realize that his liquored-up rants are about to cost him his job at Ben's firm as well. And then there's little miss prissy Peggy (Mary-Louise Parker), a junior ad exec with a world-class crush on Ben: No-one is exactly what he or she seems, and all have their eyes firmly on the money, honey. When one of the quartet is murdered, foul-mouthed detective Rita Pompano (Ellen DeGeneres) and her pious partner Nathaniel Rollins (Ray McKinnon) are tossed into the volatile mix. In her blonde Louise Brooks bob and sex-worker Barbie outfits, Arquette appears to be having a rip-roaring good time, and DeGeneres adds some scenery chewing snap to the proceedings. But it's all directed (and perhaps written — it's hard to tell) with a eye to coarse, tongue in cheek caricature that's an uncomfortable fit with the material and undermines the lowbrow fun. We'll take our sleaze straight up, thank you, hold the satirical digs at PR-driven image-making, two-faced piety and the "just do it" mantra of self-empowerment gurus. --Maitland McDonagh

Latest Videos on the Web

Goodbye Lover
A darkly comic whodunit about greed,...
Network: Video Detective
Posted: 3/17/2008

play

more info

more Goodbye Lover web videos (1 total videos)

Find more in the Online Video Guide - Enter a TV Show, Movie, or Celebrity

Movies Box Office

This Week	Last Week	Film Title	Days In Release	Gross ($M)	Weekend Gross ($M)
1	1	Tropic Thunder	10	65.7	16.1
2	--	House Bunny, The	3	15.1	15.1
3	--	Death Race	3	12.3	12.3
4	2	Dark Knight, The	38	489.2	10.3
5	3	Star Wars: The Clone Wars	10	25.0	5.7
6	5	Pineapple Express	19	73.9	5.6
7	4	Mirrors	10	20.1	4.9
8	--	Longshots, The	3	4.3	4.304
9	7	Mamma Mia!	38	124.5	4.303
10	6	Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The	24	93.8	4.1

Shop

Buy Goodbye Lover from Amazon.com
From Warner Home Video (DVD)
Average Customer Review:

Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy New: $9.98

more Goodbye Lover products