Looking for Mr. GoodBar

 

        

      Hearing the death of legendary actress Diane Keaton felt a deep sadness moreover sorrow because my first Diane Keaton movie growing up was indeed Father of the Bride, and so, thinking about a movie that would pay a sort of tribute to the actress I would try and find a movie of hers that I have never seen. And of all movies I would pick, this is a movie where I would praise a great performance out of Diane Keaton though the story is a bit on the lackluster side of it. Now before I go any further, I should let you all know that we never find a Mr. Goodbar, he was never a real person moreover Looking for Mr. Goodbar is like looking for Keyser Soze. 

       Raised in a strict Catholic family, Theresa (Diane Keaton) teaches deaf children during the day and cruises singles bars and discos at night. Theresa favors rough sex with random suitors, ignoring the advances of well-meaning but nerdy social worker James (William Atherton). Instead, Theresa pursues the likes of Tony (Richard Gere), whose threatening knife and swagger excites her. Theresa indulges in increasingly dangerous encounters, putting her life at risk. 

        Looking for Mr. Goodbar is based off the novel of the same title that's surprisingly based off a real-life murder of Roseann Quinn who was later murdered in 1973, almost two years before the book was published. Though there was indeed a movie released in 77, I soon found out about the story prior to its episode in the ID murder series (Murder Porn) A Crime to Remember about the real-life Roseann Quinn who had a nice girl persona but also had a naughty girl persona as well. Throughout my childhood and adult years my first impression of Diane Keaton was always a bit of mixed emotions, considering yes, I love her performance as the caring mom in Father of the Bride and thought she was excellent in The Godfather in a complex relationship like Kate Corleone alongside Al Pacino's Michael Corleone in The Godfather. Though through the course of her movie career, her movies besides those roles, I just mentioned were excellent, her other films were a bit on the "meh" too not so great. Almost like a female version of Christopher Walken where he plays the same role repeatedly as well as playing the same dry deadpan delivery. So, going into Looking for Mr. Goodbar this was a surprising role that I never expected Keaton to portray for good reasons majority of her scenes had a lot to do with tons of random sex with Gere and Walter Peck aka William Atherton, and what I like about her performance is obviously due to an expected performance but also a side of Keaton I never expected she would portray on screen and usually doing uncomfortable sex scenes would be a difficult process And a lot of that credit goes to director Richard Brooks, and that process would be Brooks closing the set for all crew members but using the professional's and more importantly playing music for Keaton to get her comfortable in the moment. Another thing I give Brooks credit for is using a lot of imagination shots of scenario's all being inside Keaton's mind for which some scenes I was a bit shocked but then realize certain scenes are all in Keaton's mind or sexual fantasy's especially scenes where she's flirting with her imaginary self. That being said I do find the movie a bit lackluster at times for many reasons, yes I do feel for Keaton's character because she's dealing with toxic parents especially a father, whose unlikable through the course of the movie, but then through the course of an hour and thirty minutes of the film, the feeling of being sorry for Keaton's character begins to diminish as she begins to make terrible choices for if you see the episode of A Crime to Remember, I'm not going to spoil any details. This movie alone gives me another reasons as to why I was never a big fan of Richard Gere, I mean the guy through the course of the movie is literally chewing the scenery as well as his fake glow in the dark, plastic knife while wearing a jock-strap and yet it's such a mystery how women find this guy sexy, though it's the same way guys tend to go to all of Michael Bay's movies. Judging this movie whole, I would certainly praise Diane Keaton's performance for obvious reasons, it's something I never expected from her moreover thought it was a daring role to portray but then by the end of the film I personally felt that the writers and filmmakers gave up with the films ending for which I just have mixed emotions about the movie, all together. If looking for a movie to pay tribute for Diane Keaton's passing I would highly recommend watching either the first-two Godfather films or the first-two Father of the Bride films, and although I give thanks for Keaton's unexpected and great performance in the film, the film alone is has way to much lackluster as continuing on to feel for the characters from the final frame of the movie.