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Paramount Pictures
The Goodbar Collection
To her father, Theresa was a dutiful daughter. To the children she taught, Theresa brought warmth and hope. To the men she met in bars, Theresa was easy. All kinds of people loved Theresa. Diane Keaton plays Theresa in Looking for Mr. Goodbar.
A short, unhappy affair with a married man leads a dedicated schoolteacher into the alcohol-and-drug fueled underworld of singles’ bars, where she begins to engage in a pattern of dangerous sexual activity.
John Chard
May 23, 2020 · via TMDB
We're all hurt someplace and we're all looking for a painkiller. Looking for Mr. Goodbar is directed by Richard Brooks and Brooks adapts the screenplay from the Judith Rossner novel of the same name. It stars Diane Keaton, Tuesday Weld, William Atherton, Richard Kiley, Richard Gere, Alan Feinstein and Tom Berenger. Music is by Artie Kane and cinematography by William A. Fraker. Theresa Dunn (Keaton) is a dedicated schoolteacher to deaf children by day, but at night she cruises bars looking for abusive men with whom she can engage in progressively violent sexual encounters. First off it should be noted that the Judith Rosner novel is based on the real life case of the 1973 murder of New York City schoolteacher Roseann Quinn. Also of note is that Rossner was not enamoured with this filmic adaptation. What we have here is a tragic tale set in the promiscuous pre AIDS era of 1970s America. It's a bleak observation of the swinging singles scene of the era, providing caution of patriarch pressures, religious suffocation and the dangers of casual encounters for sexual gratification. Is it any wonder the big hitting critics of the time were nonplussed by it?... The pic generated a lot of buzz for handsome new actor, Richard Gere, even if he does overact, it actually works in context to the brashness of the period. It also introduced Tom Berenger, in what is a frightening portrayal of a very sexually confused man. Tuesday Weld got a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for playing Theresa's sister, which was richly deserved, so much so one wishes she was in the film more. Yet it's Keaton who absolutely shines here, lifting an overlong picture to greater heights. Proving she had more in her armoury than merely playing kooks, Keaton imbues Theresa with a desperation and loneliness that is shattering for viewing purpose. The whole narrative bites with a crushing inevitability, that the nihilistic back drop can only bring pain and misery, and so it proves. Richard Brooks should have sliced at lest thirty minutes from the run time, especially given that the "Theresa fantasy sequences" just come off as pointless and take one out of the heartbeat of the story. Yet this is still a fine movie, not one to be cheered up by of course, but poignant, relative and with the real life story at the core, important. 7/10
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Diane Keaton
Theresa
Tuesday Weld
Katherine
William Atherton
James
Richard Kiley
Mr. Dunn
Richard Gere
Tony
Alan Feinstein
Martin
Tom Berenger
Gary
Priscilla Pointer
Mrs. Dunn
Laurie Prange
Brigid
Joel Fabiani
Barney
Julius Harris
Black Cat
Richard Bright
George
LeVar Burton
Cap Jackson
Marilyn Coleman
Mrs. Jackson
Carole Mallory
Marvella
Alex Courtney
Arthur (as Alexander Courtney)
Brian Dennehy
Surgeon
Richard Venture
Doctor
Robert John Burke
Patrick
Robert Fields
Rafe
Richard O'Brien
Father Timothy
Caren Kaye
Rhoda
Elizabeth Cheshire
Little Theresa
Marilyn Roberts
Woman in Bar
R.J. Adams
Man in Bar (uncredited)
Rutanya Alda
Deaf Teacher (uncredited)
Bob Harks
Man in Bar (uncredited)
William A. Fraker
Director of Photography
Charles H. Schram
Makeup Artist
Richard Brooks
Director
Marion Dougherty
Casting
Richard Brooks
Screenplay
Öğretmen Zeynep
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Pinjra
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Gladiator
The Help
Scarface
Taxi Driver
The Sting
Nobody Knows
American Beauty
The Tender Age
Barry Lyndon
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Andrei Rublev
Where Is The Friend's House?
The King of Comedy
Platoon
Mystic River
The Color Purple
Hotel Rwanda
Annie Hall
Inherit the Wind
Black Cat, White Cat
Thelma & Louise
Gigantic
The Last Emperor
Coach Carter
True Romance
Almost Famous
The Music Room
Midnight Cowboy
Serpico
The Devil's Advocate
Erótica, a Fêmea Sensual
Ray
Kolya
Bus 174
Bad Education
Lord of War
Daskale ti didaskes?
Gangs of New York
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Cycle
The Last Full Measure
The Piano Teacher
Batman
Silentium
Beverly Hills Cop
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
The Teachers' Lounge
The Broken Commandment
Torment
The Virgin Suicides
Small Change
Grave Decisions
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
My Own Private Idaho
Let Me Eat Your Pancreas
The Sound of a Stone
The Class
Children of a Lesser God
Cruel Intentions
Lights in the Dusk
23
Anna and the King
Or (My Treasure)
Policewoman
Joyless Street
Games of Love and Chance
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The History Boys
Singapore Sling
Bringing Out the Dead
Blueberry Hill
Dragged Across Concrete
Wanderers of the Desert
The Pride of the Firm
Lower City
Khadak
The River Wild
Badland
Part-Time Work
To End All Wars
Chiko
Hello, My Name Is Doris
Land of Plenty
The Elementary Particles
Aarakshan
7 Virgins
Tribute to the Teachers
Romance Is Just a Word We Say
Cocaine Bear
Miss Meadows
Fairyland
54
B. Monkey
Perfect Stranger
Black Pearls
9 Songs
The Disco Years
Children of the Pines
Tara Road
Gigolo
Head Under Water
Sweet Hearts Dance
Paradise for the Damned
The Grim Sleeper
In the Navel of the Sea
The Bitch
Her Private Affair
Dakshina
Four Stops
Frozen Run
El profesor
Taxi Driver
Blue Velvet
Lost Highway
Eyes Wide Shut
The Unforgivable
25th Hour
Strange Days
Rounders
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
Nightmare Alley
Kids
Nymphomaniac: Vol. I
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
House of Games
Performance.
Klute
Saturday Night Fever
Clubbed
Light Sleeper
Mammal
Crimes of Passion
Rogue Agent
Pimp
Heatwave
CrissCross
Bad Influence
The Nines
54
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Liquid Sky
Oct 19, 1977
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Bicara Cinta
2020
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1965
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Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
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1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
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