Girlfriends – 1978
Director
Claudia Weill

Writer
Vicki Polon

Cast
Jane Anderson
Bob Balaban
Tanya Berezin
Melanie Mayron
Christopher Guest

Review by Wayne Malin

Unjustly forgotten,
Well-done and engrossing drama of a woman (played by Melanie Mayron) who’s living with her best friend. Her best friend decides to get married and move out. It devastates Mayron and she goes on a journey of self-discovery…and trying to find a new roommate.

This was a big hit in 1978. It played the art house circuit for quite a while. I saw it when I was 16. Being a guy, I wasn’t sure I would like it but I was fascinated. The characters were complex, the story absorbing and showed me what NYC was like (back in 1978). After it died down it disappeared completely. There was a showing on cable back in the early 1980s but that was it. I’ve asked a few friends who are film fanatics (like me) if they knew about this and none of them had even heard of it! That’s too bad. This is a wonderful film for anybody–you don’t have to be a woman to understand the loneliness and shock Mayron feels when her best friend leaves. Also it has some casual nudity which was surprising for a PG film. It also has Christopher Guest in an early role (and doing a nude scene–not much is shown).

An excellent film. It’s probably dated by now and who knows if any copies still exist–but I’d love to see it again.