IMDb RATING
6.7/10
8.8K
YOUR RATING
Dedicated schoolteacher Theresa Dunn spends her nights cruising bars, looking for males with whom she can engage in progressively dangerous extreme sexual encounters.Dedicated schoolteacher Theresa Dunn spends her nights cruising bars, looking for males with whom she can engage in progressively dangerous extreme sexual encounters.Dedicated schoolteacher Theresa Dunn spends her nights cruising bars, looking for males with whom she can engage in progressively dangerous extreme sexual encounters.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 1 win & 6 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaTom Berenger admitted in an interview that he had nightmares after he was finished shooting all of his scenes as Gary.
- GoofsTheresa is supposed to be a first-grade teacher, but all her students look to be way older. The youngest seem to be 9 or 10 while the oldest could be 12, 13 or even older.
- Crazy creditsThe Paramount logo is shortened at both ends, fading in at the point the text already appears. It was gray-scaled in the closing version.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Sex, Censorship and the Silver Screen: Forward Into the Past (1996)
- SoundtracksTry Me, I Know We Can Make It
Written by Donna Summer (uncredited), Giorgio Moroder (uncredited) and Pete Bellotte (uncredited)
Performed by Donna Summer
Courtesy of Casablanca Record & FilmWorks
Featured review
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
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
- hitchcockthelegend
- May 22, 2020
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Auf der Suche nach Mr. Goodbar
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $22,512,655
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,540,635
- Oct 23, 1977
- Gross worldwide
- $22,512,655
- Runtime2 hours 16 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
Top Gap
By what name was Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) officially released in India in English?
Answer