Themes: Midlife Crises, Fathers and Daughters, Starting Over
Main Cast: Judd Hirsch, Martin Balsam, Pamela Reed, Ron Silver, Michael Tucker
Release Year: 1983
Country: US
Run Time: 104 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Playwright Herb Gardner's patented combination of cynicism and sentimentality that worked so well in his A Thousand Clowns didn't quite jell in his subsequent The Goodbye People. This film version, adapted and directed by Gardner, stars Martin Balsam, who'd won an Oscar for his work in the 1966 cinemazation of Thousand Clowns. Based on Gardner's own childhood memories, the film casts Balsam as fiftysomething Max Silverman, who gets a new lease on life after surviving heart surgery. Ignoring the pleas of friends and family, Max decides to fulfill a life-long ambition by opening up a combination hot dog and tropical drink stand on a remote public beach. The only person other than Max to have faith in this benighted project is Arthur Korman (Judd Hirsch), who like Max has spent most of his life in a dead-end job. Somehow, Max and Arthur's unquenchable optimism draws a few other misfits into their plans. Striving hard for whimsy, The Goodbye People seems more like a 104-minute visit to a home for aging high-school geeks (not that there's anything wrong with that!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Gene Saks - Marcus Soloway; Nicky Deems - "Dixie Land Devils"; Raymond Gardner - "Dixie Land Devils"; Vincent Gugleotti - Irwin Abrams; Paul Navarro - "Dixie Land Devils"; Sam Rubinsky - "Dixie Land Devils"; Vito Sansone - "Dixie Land Devils"; Sammy Smith - George Mooney; James Trotman - Velasquez; Sid Winter - The Jogger
Credit
Mel Howard - Associate Producer, Dona Granata - Costume Designer, Tony Walton - Costume Designer, Herb Gardner - Director, Rick Shaine - Editor, Tony Walton - Production Designer, John Lindley - Cinematographer, Mel Howard - Production Manager, David V. Picker - Producer, Christian Kelly - Set Designer, Herb Gardner - Screen Story, Herb Gardner - Screenwriter, Herb Gardner - Play Author
