Lost to the deeper annals of Steve Martin’s celebrated career, The Lonely Guy is given little chance when shouldering itself between the powerhouses of his filmography. It is indeed a lonely film. It stands no chance against the legendary comedian’s finest works. What a shame, mainly since this Arthur Miller piece does well to engage with the loser writers of New York and beyond, their main character syndrome will no doubt flare up when seeing the despondent loneliness of Larry (Martin). Perhaps it is the horrific opening credits song that has prevented The Lonely Guy from reaching a wider audience. Nobody should be expected to sit through that horror. Still, sitting through it brings out a solid Martin comedy feature.
Since the dawn of man, it would appear that men have been lonely. The Lonely Guy manages to draw some comedy from those in their own self-imposed isolation. Martin overplays that with much joy. Narrating his way through this piece is a quintessential choice of the 1980s and not that grand but it pushes the narrative to where it needs to be. It works. The Lonely Guy has aged to that rare point, like Guest House Paradiso and Dirty Work, of beyond impressive hilarity. It is forgettable, of course, but it is the charm to it and the flow of it, the fourth wall breaks and the bountiful physical gags that weave surreal writing in there too. It could be said that The Lonely Guy is far too quality for a premise of lonely losers failing to come to terms with their new situation, but that is where the humour lies.
Break-up movies from a male perspective feel a tad out of place, but The Lonely Guy shares similar qualities with Bridget Jones’s Diary. Empowerment in isolation and emotional grief. From there it is a cheap and clumsy comedy that has so much heart to it that it paves over what should be a film about loser incels closing in on why they are utterly useless people. Their desperation can be smelled a mile off, literally, as countless interactions throughout this piece show. But handing them success does have the potential to scupper the message at the heart of The Lonely Guy. By that point, Martin and Hiller have earned a change of scenery, and that is presented to them quite nicely.
Hiller’s longevity in the comedy genre is marked once more by The Lonely Guy, an earlier contender than the much better See No Evil, Hear No Evil, but there is quality to the comedy here. Its intentions are evil and its message is somewhat loose with the idea that people are attracted to success, not one another. It plays with the surprise anxiety of meeting someone new, the potential avenues and how the brain whirrs away. Maybe that is all accidental. Maybe The Lonely Guy is a horrendously foolish comedy that has Martin flirting with a pillow. Either way, it is funny because of how unhinged, and unserious it is. It makes for comfortable viewing and those are hard to come by.
