| PRODUCT DETAILS | | Goodbye, Columbus |  | |
Goodbye, Columbus
Philip Roth's novel of Jewish identity and assimilation in the suburbs of New York gets a spirited comic reading in this 1969 film, which marked the acting debut of model Ali McGraw (and who thought that was a good idea?). Actually, she's pretty good as the Jewish princess whose father has made a fortune in plumbing supplies. Richard Benjamin, who went on to become an odd sex symbol of the '70s, had just the right comic twist as the young man who can't overcome McGraw's middle-class morality with his sense of passion and romance. Jack Klugman is outstanding as her hard-driving and unyieldding father. A touchstone film. --Marshall Fine
Manufacturer: Paramount
Price: $49.99
 Goodbye, Columbus
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| User Reviews |  | Dated material, unrealistic and annoying SPOILER ALERT
rating: 2
My mom had told me about this movie recently, I remembered seeing it as a kid. The title came across my list of Movies To See and I decided to give it a whirl. I found the material dated, unrealistic and rather annoying.
Richard Benjamin plays a middle class library employee in New York state who meets Ali MacGraw, one of the most beautiful women of all time, at a country club swimming pool one summer day. He falls for the siren (and who wouldn't with her gorgeousness) and they begin a happy, carefree summer romance. Of course her parents, upper class and Jewish who had risen up thanks to MacGraw's father's plumbing business, do not approve. When alone, they assure each other "She'll get tired of him", and "It won't last". MacGraw doesn't seem very serious about much of anything at this point in life, Benjamin doesn't seem to have much of a plan either, and it should be lite, airy and fun. Which it very much is.
If it was left at that, I would have been happy. Add her whiney little sister into the equation for a comic relief and it turns into a bad experience. The brother is in it only to provide some background for the title (he goes to Ohio State). The parents have some moments together as well as seperately (such as the scene where her father is telling MacGraw that he will always love and sheild her from how precarious life can be). The part I didn't like was when Benjamin suddenly finds out that MacGraw isn't taking her birth control pills because they make her feel fat. Now in real life, I can understand this. But, she is so shallow and foolish that she will REALLY not take her pills but she will indulge in unprotected sex?!? Then again, even though we're nearly done with the first decade of the 2000s, I never cease to be amazed that girls do not protect themselves. But where is the consequence? If this movie was made today, MacGraw would end up pregnant. Which she doesn't in this movie.
The ending? Well, I understood it. The reaction of the parents is a little dated. They found her diaphram in a dresser drawer and wrote some kind of angry letter to MacGraw telling her that they were disappointed. Benjamin leaves, knowing that this could never be. Times were different then. Nowdays parents would or should be happy that their children are protecting themselves. Maybe they would be disappointed that their kids were having sex, but they might feel powerless to stop it. This dates the film. And it shows.
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Queen For A Day
rating: 3
I think that I have only seen this movie twice in my entire lifetime and I
could barely remember any of it. So I rented the dvd and I must say that I
really enjoyed it. Some of the neighborhoods looked familiar(I've lived in
the Bronx for over thirty years)and I would love to know where in the Bronx it was filmed because I love that library!
The ending of this film has always left me a bit puzzled; but I would love to have had "Brenda's" carefree life for just one day. Seeing this movie really took me back, and I actually found it strange not to see a single cell phone. I hope I passed the audition. Peace.
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Sweet memories
rating: 4
Goodbye, Columbus seems on the surface like a sweet, inconsequential tale. And maybe that's all it is. But reading it tapped some really nice pleasure zone in me that made me feel good while and after I read it. Who's to argue with that?
Part of its specialness was that as a young man I worked in Newark near the Library in the same general time period as this novel. I didn't much like the regimented boredom of adult life and responsibility, so I used to frequent the library (even when I was supposed to be busily working at Prudential Insurance Company) where the protagonist of Goodbye, Columbus worked. I was able to remember the marble staircase and the main reading room fondly and vividly based on Roth's evocative descriptions.
The book is hard to analyze and critique. It has lots of humorous and charming characters; everyone is a little kooky and flawed, just as in real life. But there is no evil to be seen anywhere.
The romantic plot just drifts along in a realistic way, and the hero is almost transparent, featureless, better allowing the reader to directly enter into the experience themselves. I rarely give 5 stars, but would to this book, except that I wonder if part of my especial appreciation of it was based on how well it evoked my own similar Jewish girlfriend and Newark experiences.
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Fine Adaptation of Roth Novel
rating: 5
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.
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Philip Roth, please speak up!
rating: 4
First, the film which was written and set in Newark, New Jersey and Livingston, New Jersey was replaced by the Bronx, New York and Westchester County, New York. The characters remain the same but the setting which I always find crucial in Roth's stories are often disregarded in favor of something more familiar. Brenda and Neil come from two different worlds. Richard Benjamin and Ali McGraw are both excellent as the young couple and make an impressive film debut in this film. Surprisingly, Susan Lucci has an uncredited role in the film. Nan Martin and Jack Klugman are excellent as Brenda's upscale parents. Just because Neil and Brenda are Jewish, doesn't mean that they don't have problems. They do because Neil is a poor Bronx librarian living with his aunt and uncle while Brenda is rich and lives in Westchester county with a housekeeper and multiple telephones in the house, a rarity in those days. The story remains intact but I would like to see Philip Roth talk about his novel made into a film. I think the author speaking out would have made me want to give five stars instead of four.
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Goodbye, Columbus
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