Bye Bye, Love | | Cast : | Matthew Modine, Randy Quaid, Paul Reiser | | Director : | Sam Weisman | | Studio : | Anchor Bay Entertain | | Format : | Color, Widescreen | | Released Date : | March 17, 1995 | | DVD Released Date : | February 08, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 11, 2005 | | Summary | Divorce American Style (The 90s Version) | Content
 | This well-intentioned comedy starts off fine. You almost get the impression that it's going to make a SIGNIFICANT STATEMENT about love and marriage and divorce in modern day America. All the complications of split up, "blended," and re-blended families are all touched upon, and the script seems intelligently ambivalent and a tinge melancholy about it all. The actors are, for the most part, up to the task of conveying that ambivalence. It seems almost like it's going to be one of those (increasing) rarities in American, a comedy for thinking adults.
But by half-time, it's pretty much gone off track, and it's hard to pinpoint just where or why. Some notes ring true right up to the end, while others ring increasingly false. The relationship between Paul Reiser, his ex-wife and confused adolescent daughter is a case in point. The complications one would expect between a basically amicable divorced couple, one of whom is apparently happily remarried, and one is still mooning over his lost love, seem to be authentically portrayed. The tensions between father and maturing daughter aren't glossed over either. But by the film's end, it's gotten, well, awfully hokey. Yes, the mooning dad is forced to come to terms with the finality of his divorce. Did he have to scale a tree to rescue is drunken and distraught 14 year old daughter (holing up in a treehouse on their old homestead no less) to reach that point. The film's end has script doctoring and slightly-cynical-happy-ending written all over it.
BYE BYE LOVE wants desperately to be a comedy for the 90s. As I recall the critical reception and box office results at the time, it came up short back then. Ten years later, it seems a even more forced--and dated to boot. But it's well-acted, has a number of funny moments (Janeane Garofalo and Randy Quaid's blind date scenes are genuinely funny and up the laugh meter quotient considerably...but even that highlight is undercut by some absurd follow-up action that has Quaid invading the radio broadcast of a reviled male Dr. Laura figure (Rob Reiner)--only to achieve instant media stardom himself.
In the end, the SIGNIFICANT STATEMENT is overwhelmed by the silliness. An OK comedy, it could have been much, much better. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 16, 2005 | | Summary | Good movie to just sit back and laugh | Content
| If you're an adult with a relationship of more than 12 months under your belt, you'll appreciate this movie. It's a borderline 'chick flick', but it's from a guy's point of view, so it's not too bad.
Used to watch this with a long-term girlfriend in the mid 90's and with buying the DVD I remember why we liked it so much. And why she's an ex-girlfriend..... |
| Rating | | | Date | March 11, 2005 | | Summary | Fun, Touching, Love Randy Quaid and Jeanine G. | Content
| So glad this movie is out on DVD - it's got all the little warm fuzzies, funnies and poignancy that I love about a movie. Randy Quaid and Jeanine Garafalo are great..they are so funny together! This is definitely a cute movie that I'll enjoy watching over and over again. |
| Rating | | | Date | March 03, 2005 | | Summary | The DVD has no closed captions or English subtitles | Content
| The Anchor Bay DVD has no closed captions or English subtitles. If you need them, you're out of luck. Too bad; it's a fun movie. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 21, 2005 | | Summary | Little known comedy.. dated but very entertaining | Content
| I came across this VHS sometime ago and bought it hoping to find an Odd Couple pairing of Paul Reiser and Randy Quaid. I got so much more. This is a hilarious look at fathers and how they struggle to survive after becoming single with children. The movie is incredibly funny and the Jeanenne Garafalo/Randy Quaid date is worth the rental fee itself. The movie is slanted from the perspective of the father but is definitely a romantic comedy that all will enjoy. I have been waiting for this to come out on DVD for some time and will definitely do a release date purchase. |
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