The Goodbye Girl (1977)

After she and her daughter (Quinn Cummings) have been abandoned for a second time by men, a woman (Marsha Mason) is hostile to the struggling actor (Richard Dreyfuss) who has (unbeknownst to her) subleased the apartment she lives in from her ex-boyfriend.  With no place to go, she grudgingly enters a room mate situation with him. Neil Simon's original comedy is typical Neil Simon: rat-a-tat-tat dialogue, an overdose of wisecracks and a soft center. But in this case, it's one of Simon's best vehicles. Perhaps because it's not based on one of his plays, the film doesn't feel so constricted (though most of the action takes place in an apartment). Simon tailored the title role for his (then) wife Marsha Mason so it fits her like a glove but it's Dreyfuss (in his Oscar winning performance) that gives the film its fuel. He's never been so likable but Drefuss doesn't play on that likability but instead gives his character some swagger and bravado that makes him even more appealing. One of the best romcoms of the 1970s. Directed by Herbert Ross. With Nicol Williamson, Barbara Rhoades, Marilyn Sokol and Theresa Merritt.