The Buddy System (1984) Poster

(1984)

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7/10
Underrated
FiendishDramaturgy4 June 2007
Susan Sarandon, Richard Dreyfus.

This is a mess of a rom/com. The adolescent boy of a single mom makes friends with an adult male school security guard by virtue of being caught attending school in the wrong school district. Upon the discovery, the child offers his mother as a bribe to the officer to prevent the guard reporting the transgression.

The premise is creative, to say the least, and the performances by Sarandon and Dreyfus are heartwarming and real. I liked this, but as usual, I'm in the minority. This film is vastly underrated, by virtue of the quality of performance and presentation involved. The dialog between those two is natural and believable.

All in all, though it's dated, it's a quirky, cute, heartwarming rom/com. And, while it's not the stuff of Friday/Saturday night viewing, it IS worth making time for.

It rates a 7.2/10 from...

the Fiend :.
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7/10
Very cute, feel-good film
Tinyhippy21 September 2001
I loved The Buddy System. Yes, it was very cheesy and completely predictable. But, if you like slushy romantic dramas, this one is for you. Richard Dreyfuss is brilliant as usual as the wannabe writer. Susan Sarandon plays the potential love interest, and the ever cute Wil Wheaton as her little son. The scene in which Timmy (Wheaton) explains to his mother (Sarandon) about the meaning of "The Buddy System" is like the core of the film - this is where you understand the whole meaning of it. A very cosy movie that leaves you believing there could be happy endings in real life, too.
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5/10
Sort of OK
alrodbel2 December 1999
If you have nothing to do and need some diversion from cable, this beats contemplating your navel. This is workmanlike film made at the factory. The product is good enough for comercial work. Nothing fancy, nothing inspired. But a pleasant flick for a rainy day.
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6/10
Deeper than it seems.
Petie3-25 June 2010
Seemed like a harmless little movie, no exploding cars, morphing robots, no murders. Just a little nerdy (Will W brags on being nerdy, he was just in type) kid with issues, having a single Mom for a parent. She also has issues being enmeshed with Tim (sleeping in each other's beds) and excessively guilt-ridden over his shortcomings. Joe does security at Tim's school, is also trying to write a book, invent a portable dog washer, pay the bills, keep his girlfriend happy (she gets pregnant) and maintain the relationship which Tim is trying to cook up with his mom. Naturally the relationship ebbs and flows, everybody moves, links are broken and reestablished, emotions come and go. All three main actors do a workmanlike job, as their careers are just about to skyrocket.
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5/10
aka "Goodbye Girl"
timmauk3 April 2001
This is almost the exact same movie. Just like the "Goodbye Girl". All you do is make Dreyfuss character an inventor and turn the little girl into a little boy and voila, "The Buddy System"! I am sure that Richard Dreyfuss was desperate to have another hit, so he picked something that was close to his last one. Too bad it wasn't as good.

If you can't get out and there is nothing to do, it is a nice enough movie to watch. If you can see the "Goodbye Girl" though, WATCH IT!!
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The Buddy System
Coxer9912 May 1999
Dreyfuss stars in the same role as his Eliot Garfield in "The Goodbye Girl," while Sarandon plays an insecure single mother in this rather shaky romantic comedy. It's all typical. Boy meets girl. Nothing too exciting.
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4/10
Nice forum for a young Richard Dreyfuss and Susan Sarandon.
zircon-200022 November 2001
Nice forum for a young Richard Dryfuss and Susan Sarandon. The story line is a little sappy and way too predictable.

All the characters are stereotypical of the times (early 80's). Maybe seeing the movie in 1984 I would have felt differently about the story line. However, in 2001 it seems trite and fixed.
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4/10
Thinly scripted and predictable romantic comedy
gcd7028 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Glenn Jordan's thinly scripted, predictable romance-comedy bears many similarities to the more recent, and much more enjoyable, "Sleepless in Seattle".

Tim is a young boy whose father "took a powder" before he was born, leaving his then teenage mother to raise him alone. Now around ten years old, Tim has taken a liking to the security officer at his school, and begins to try and bring he and his mother together. Needless to say, inevitability quickly takes hold.

This movie is definitely only for the hopeless romantics, with a one way plot that only entertains on the surface. Wil Wheaton's precocious Tim is annoying, with Richard Dreyfuss and Susan Sarandon providing the only salvation with their reasonably interesting characters and good performances.

Glenn Jordan manages some worthwhile comedy but little else, in a film which fails to leave its audience with the 'good' feeling it attempts to.

Friday, April 1, 1994 - T.V.
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8/10
"WARM FUZZY"
RAY-13026 February 2004
Nicely done warm fuzzy movie. We have single moms with nice kid, Odd guy with warm heart and sexual icon running around, a dominant mother and several

animals and ducks making us smile. This movie should not be analyzed only

appreciated. It's like chicken soup and a warm blanket on a cold day, always appreciated.

I think the world needs these non-threatening, nonintellectual, fantasies to

remind of the magic of movies. Richard Dreyfuss has done a few of these and this ranks high in my favorite Susan Sarandon movies.
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1/10
The worst PG-rated film ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
stephenchase-635049 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Unfunny and unoriginal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL.
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8/10
Nice movie starring several "earlier selves"
budikavlan12 October 2002
This was a cute little love story starring Richard Dreyfuss before he became pompous, Susan Sarandon before she became sexy, and Wil Wheaton before he became utterly insufferable. The love is more a familial kind of thing; Dreyfuss and Sarandon never really generate much romantic "heat," but the family connection that Joe develops with Emily and Tim is really nice. Jean Stapleton comes off (appropriately) as really chilly in this, a good performance that reminds one what a terrific performance Edith Bunker always was. For once, Nancy Allen doesn't stink up the joint like she usually does, because her shallow airheaded character seems fairly close to her real personality. This is one of those forgotten movies that turn up occasionally on Saturday afternoon TV, but it's a nice 2 hour diversion.
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10/10
What's wrong with it?
BeeBenji6 November 2006
This is a delightful 80's movie & what's wrong with it being predictable..yes, I love movies that you don't know what's going to happen, but every once in a while I love a movie i don't have to guess through. This is a feel good movie. You want to be the characters in this movie & it leaves you with a warm & nostalgic feeling!

Richard Dreyfus is a marvel & he makes everybody that plays with him seem to be a marvel. There are not enough good words to talk about Susan Sarandon. She is as fine an actress as can be. it was great seeing her young & so beautiful. It was very strange however to see Jean Stapleton in this movie. Very weird to see her out of her Edith Bunker character.
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