Her lack of knowledge is exactly the issue here: In the book, Theresa might have picked up the guy because she knew he'd be trouble.What we get (and I quote from someone walking out of the screening ahead of me) is "another one of those movies that are supposed to be all filled with significance because the person gets killed at the end." Right"). Tony eventually returns and acts as if nothing had happened. It does say, however, that the bar has one wall that is covered in the candy bar wrappers. by Anonymous reply 39 What we might have gotten is a movie about a character obsessed, and fascinated, by what the end might be. Even a movie about how she got to be that way.Brooks hasn't improved the story by changing its focus, and he's distracted from the heart of the narrative by several unnecessary scenes. He has rewritten the story, in any event, into a cautionary lesson: Promiscuous young women who frequent pick-up bars and go home with strangers are likely to get into trouble.Then there's that ending that bothers me. On a New Year's Eve, she makes a fatal decision in choosing the next guy she's going to take home. Maybe Brooks thought audiences would find Rossner's masochistic heroine too hard to understand. Theresa's fantasies, for example, are handled in ways that annoy viewers more than they intrigue them. And Keaton plays her wonderfully, with a light touch you'd think would be impossible with this material. Looking back at it, I was stupid to recommend Mr. Goodbar as a "date" movie, but hey - I was being honest when my sister asked me which movie I thought was better. He was homosexual but refused to admit it to himself, leading to violent feelings toward women.Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox.The real-life murder behind "Looking For Mr. Goodbar"At his home later that night,Wilson beat Quinn, stabbed her numerous times, and sexually assaulted her before finally killing her. Maybe Brooks thought audiences would find Rossner's masochistic heroine too hard to understand. She breaks up with Tony, but he stalks and harasses her, both at home and at her workplace.
There's one crucial thing that "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" doesn't make clear: Just because you find Mr. Goodbar doesn't necessarily mean you were looking for him.
The heroine of Judith Rossner's bestseller was looking. There's one crucial thing that "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" doesn't make clear: Just because you find Mr. Goodbar doesn't necessarily mean you were looking for him. He gives us a Theresa who drinks too much, sleeps around too much, and takes too many drugs -- but she seems more of a hedonist than a masochist. She choreographs every situation, and only eventually do we realize she's dancing out of the way. And her home life -- its broadly painted Freudian details right out of soap operas -- could have just simply been dropped.