Goodbye, Columbus

Watching "Goodbye, Columbus" for the first time I flashed back to my sophomore year at Temple University when I was still undeclared. I took an American Lit class taught by an inspiring professor whose name unfortunately escapes me. His course offerings were a veritable stew of literary styles. I recall reading Henry James' "Daisy Miller" which spawned an underrated film by Peter Bogdanovich. I also recall reading Thomas Berger's "Neighbors" starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd that was generally reviled by the critics(I liked it, though). My impressions of "Goodbye, Columbus" is it is painstakingly faithful to Philip Roth's novella. Your opinion of the film I think depends on how much you liked the book. I like the film and the book. My only quibble here is that the principal actors, though ideally cast, may have been a tad too old for their parts. Richard Benjamin is superb as the Bronx librarian returning from a stint in the Army only to fall head over heels with a girl whose value system he finds contemptible. Ali MacGraw gives a sympathetic account of the spoiled preppie because you feel that she acts the way she does only because she's been programmed to do so. The attraction between the two is more than physical. Despite their protestations, Neil and Brenda possess character traits that the other finds desirable. The question you ask will the pull of their respective social classes accept this relationship or find it unacceptable and pull Neil and Brenda apart. The film is rich in Jewish color but the scenario that unfolds here could apply to any tightknit ethnic group. A real gem has been made here from a fine literary source.

Fun movie regarding dating and sex adventures between a rich girl and a common guy.

I think you can tell by my pic accompanying my review that this ‘purplish’ disc is a burned dvd and more times than not my DVD player will not play the movie unless I allow my player to ‘read’ a non burned dvd first.Once with my License To Kill (James Bond) burned DVD I could not get to play at all and The Hand (Oliver stone early movie with Michael Caine) it took a second Amazon delivery and about 4 more tries to get the Hand to play…)ButI had to let another movie play before getting Goodbye, Columbus to play and I’m kinda getting tired of receiving burned purplish discs and basically holding my breath in the hope it plays. And the customer shouldn’t have to pay 20$ for a burned dvd.Anyways, As for pic (when it finally played second try) it was good. Goodbye, Columbus is a very practical and realistic light comedy romance through the eyes of a rich and one not wealthy Jewish couple. The movie does have something to say about double standards and hypocrisy and elitism. Yes, comparisons to The Graduate are inevitable while the ending leaves even less to debate (as compared to happy(?) ending in the Graduate).In her first starring role Ali McGraw is fetching and flirtatious (always thought she was not so good in The Getaway, for one example) and Richard Benjamin (Love At First Bite) does a really good job as basically the star of the movie (like Dustin Hoffman in the Graduate).I actually purchased The Last Of Sheila to see him (Richard Benjamin—also directed, see My Favorite Year) Interact with a top notch murder mystery cast—but that’s another review.Goodbye, Columbus (an Ohio State reference): a not so simple as it sometimes appears, comedy, questionable love in the making, social commentary.Not surprisingly Jack Klugman is good as a wealthy, uncouth and judgmental father.4.2 stars.

Bought this because I was unable to find it at any of the few remaining "brick & board" retail stores remaining in business in San Francisco that sell these items. The price was hefty, as it looked to be "out of print" & in high demand. The film is a romp, a sort of critical look by American Jewish screenwriters & filmakers @ a slice of their own culture-framed by a story line that displays what it's like for a young boy coming from a poor family to fall in love with a young girl from a family with a higher social standing. Seeing Richard Benjamin & Ali Magraw in the prime of their youth is a plus, but the funny & silly situations that hover in the background seem to serve a purpose of sending messages that this relationship is doomed & not meant to be. The viewer does not get an absolute answer to this question, in the end, the poor boy from the Bronx makes it clear that he is not ready for marriage, and the "pampered Jewish princess" (that's what it says on the liner notes, I didn't invent this!) is just as unready & has been put on notice by her parents that she's to be shunned by the family for losing her virginity before marriage. In today's world, this may seem quaint. But then, in the not so distant past, this was a huge issue, and not many young, adult children have anything in their background to prepare them for parental rejection. Thus, the film ends, the beauty & hope of the romance has turned grimy, and the future bleak, and the credits roll. We never know if they re-establish their relationship, or break it off and move on with their lives. So, after the time spent in joy of two pretty people having a beautiful & fun romance, we are left with a sadness that the world they lived in was not ready for them. While the focus is upon Jewish culture, it could just have easily been poor Methodist boy meets rich Episcopalian girl, with more or less the same dynamics. Therefore, this pie, this cultural pie, is really universal in nature--a poor person going out of one's class to marry, and the shame brought upon a family by a member who breaks the rules, especially female children. Double standards go beyond all these "cultural" boundaries. It was a sort of The Graduate Lite of it's time. Goodbye, ColumbusGoodbye, Columbus

Ce DVD est illisible. Je suppose que le format ne convient pas aux appareils européens, ce qui n'était pas précisé dans le descriptif.

all good

Boring, dumb ending

Both the lead actors in the movie were miscast. Richard Benjamin especially seems detached from the role. The movie as a whole does not capture what the novel was about. It wasn't very good back in the 70s and it hasn't aged well.My advice is to read the novel. It is satire and it is funny. The movie isn't