User Reviews

I don't think I've really ever given Walter Matthau his due as a comedic performer. He's certainly been wonderful in plenty of lighthearted roles, but I guess I always put his success down to his characters' grumpiness and ruthlessness, a gruff contrast to the flamboyant personality of his frequent co-star Jack Lemmon, and, I suppose, a natural extension of his earlier work in dramatic pictures. Watching Gene Saks' 'The Odd Couple (1968),' adapted from a popular Neil Simon play, the realisation suddenly clicked: Matthau is, in his own right, absolutely hilarious! Initially striking the audience as filthy, crude and generally unappealing, his Oscar Madison eventually manages to worm his way into our hearts, culminating in a hilariously overplayed confession of emotions that Matthau rasps out in a voice not entirely his own. At the same time, while holding his own as a comedian, his interplay with Lemmon is, of course, pitch-perfect; indeed, the film rightly belongs to both actors, who have never failed to light up the cinema screen by themselves, let alone together.

Calling to mind Billy Wilder's screenplay for 'The Apartment (1960),' this Neil Simon comedy builds itself around around a rather morbid premise. Compulsive house-cleaner Felix Unger (Lemmon), having just been evicted by his wife of twelve years, attempts to commit suicide, but fruitlessly abandons the idea after he wrecks his back trying to open the hotel window. Dejected, he arrives at the house of good friend Oscar (Matthau), a divorced slob who lives alone on a diet of potato crisps and green sandwiches (that might contain either very new cheese or very old meat!). Oscar kindly offers Felix a place to stay, but is soon overwhelmed by his friend's finicky personality and constant insistence on absolute cleanliness. The pair form an unusual sort of marital arrangement, with Felix assuming the role of the effeminate and constantly-nagging wife, and Oscar as the sloppy, unappreciative husband who always comes home later than he's supposed to. This is a marriage that barely lasts three weeks, and, by the end of it, we can completely sympathise with Felix's ex-wife, who remains unseen.

'The Odd Couple' is a terrific comedy, most of all because it has a lot of heart. For all their arguing, it's obvious that the two roommates have plenty of affection for each other, most movingly seen when Felix tries to launch into a furious tirade, instead – perhaps inadvertently – ending up informing Oscar how "tops" he his. The pair's four poker buddies (John Fiedler, Herb Edelman, David Sheiner and Larry Haines) are also constantly badgering each other about some obscure annoyance, but you can't deny that they've got the best of intentions. Their decision to treat Felix as though nothing has happened to him may have sounded fine in theory, but maybe being ignored wasn't quite the correct solution to Felix's gloomy feelings of inadequacy and inconsequentiality. Unlike some comedies based on popular stage plays {I was recently disappointed by Wilder's 'The Seven Year Itch (1955)}, this film doesn't simply strike at the same chord throughout, and the relationship between the two leads is progressively developed, through tears, laughter and much disagreement.

I remember something that Roger Ebert said in an interview with Martin Scorcese. Ebert said that "Raging Bull" was a great movie. People would protest that they didn't want to see it because they didn't want to see a film about boxers. No, Ebert insisted. The subject matter of a film is not the heart of the film. Rather, it's how well a film is made that matters. An expertly made film about boxers is better than a badly made film about a topic you may be interested in. So, no, I'm not a man; I'm not divorced. But "The Odd Couple" was so well made that I fell in love with it. I surprised myself by laughing out loud throughout the film.

"The Odd Couple," of course, is the story of news writer Felix Unger leaving his wife and children and moving in with his friend, sports writer Oscar Madison, who is himself a divorcée. Oscar lives in an eight-room Manhattan apartment, which he used to share with his wife and their kids. Felix is neat; Oscar is messy. Sounds pretty trite.

But the movie is a revelation. The script reveals surprising depth about love, hate, and human relationships. The Walter-Matthau-Jack-Lemmon team is like a well-oiled machine – they seem to have perfected their shtick together through several lifetimes.

Jack Lemmon plays the entire movie completely straight. He gives the exact same kind of performance as he did when he was acting in "The Days of Wine and Roses," a hyper serious film about alcoholism. When Lemmon, as Felix, is upset about his meatloaf burning, he shows as much agony as he showed in the previous film about a drunk ruining his own life. It's hysterically funny to watch this poor schmuck wrestle with his petty obsessions and compulsions, oblivious to how he affects others. Even as you laugh at him, you realize he can't help himself. Felix Unger has Asperger's.

What has changed in America, and American film, that this film from 1968 feels like a time capsule from a lost moment in America? Oscar lives in a spacious, eight-room Manhattan apartment. Manhattan real estate has become more expensive, of course. But it's more than that.

The words that kept going through my head as I was watching the movie were "grown-up" and "intelligent."

Oscar, Felix, and their poker buddies are six white guys. They meet and play poker. There are no scenes where these adult, white men are revealed to be inept in comparison to women, blacks, or homosexuals. There are no scenes where the sassy gay man instructs the straight men on how to dress or create romance. There are no scenes where the "magical negro" shows the men that they can't dance. There are no scenes where a woman puts the men down for not knowing how to take care of children or shows the men up as being blinded by lust. There are no scenes where these straight, white men are made to apologize for being straight, white men.

The men are grownups. They have jobs. They wear adult clothing. They wear white shirts and ties, slacks, belts, and shiny shoes. Oscar does wear a backwards baseball cap, but he is the clown of the group. And he does not wear it throughout the film. When he goes out, he dresses properly.

They speak of their marriages as if marriage were something important. They speak of their children as if they love them.

They go on dates. They ask women out, dress up for the occasion, and make witty banter with subtle double entendres.

While watching "The Odd Couple," I thought of recent Judd Apatow comedies starring men like Jason Segel, Paul Rudd and Jonah Hill. These current male stars all play children; they all play losers. They play failed men. The humor in these films is built around what pathetic creatures they are. In "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," Jason Segel, who is fat and prematurely saggy, is shown fully naked. The nakedness highlights his humiliation when his girlfriend, Sarah Marshall, dumps him. These films all use the F word over and over in a manner that feels desperate and limited.

There is one very sly, very funny reference to the f word in "The Odd Couple." Oscar complains to Felix Unger that he is tired of getting little notes from Felix like "We are all out of cornflakes. Signed, FU." Oscar says it took him hours to figure out what "FU" meant. A funny joke. Delivered deliciously. The only time "The Odd Couple" has to refer to the F word to get a laugh.

I've never felt, while watching a Judd Apatow comedy, that I was gaining any insight into the human condition. There are so many payoff moments of absurd comedy in "The Odd Couple," as when Oscar steps on a vacuum cleaner cord and then takes his foot off the cord at just the right moment to send Felix reeling. But there were so many moments that made me say, "Gosh, yes, that's what human relationships are like. That's what it's like to love/hate another human being."

I can't imagine a film like "The Odd Couple" being made today. A genuinely funny, intelligent, rich, grownup comedy about men that shines light on the human condition and that need never speak the F word to get a laugh. And I can't imagine anyone other than a Trump being able to afford that eight-room apartment in Manhattan.

No need to recap the plot. What a triumph of scripting and casting. The premise, viz. the neat freak and the slob, has got to be one of the most durable on record, accounting for both this movie and the long-running TV series. In fact, I count that early 20-minutes around the card table as one of the funniest and best-written episodes I've seen anywhere. If this isn't playwright Simon's best work, I don't know what is.

And what a fine example of ensemble acting are the poker-playing buddies, even if they never seem to play. Then too, get a load of the giddy Pigeon sisters. I love it when killjoy Felix gets them out of a romantic mood with a good cry. No wonder I-need-to-touch-something-soft Oscar wants to throttle him. And I'm still wondering whether Simon came up with the name "Felix Unger" because of the loaded initials or just happened to notice them. Anyway, the initials provide a good laugh.

Of course, filming a stage play is always tricky since there're minimal scene changes. Here there're basically only two sets. But I hardly notice because director Saks manages to keep somebody moving all the time. That, plus the quality of writing and acting, keeps attention from wandering. One thing I did notice. Catch how the poker players are bunched on one side of the table so that the camera can have an unobstructed angle. It's artificial but understandable.

Anyway, this is one of my favorite comedies, and I catch re-runs of the TV series when I can. Thanks Neil Simon for a truly inspired comedic set-up.

Of all of the versions and variations on Neil Simon's classic, "The Odd Couple," from its original production on Broadway, to the celebrated television series starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, the 1968 film version is, arguably, the best representation of the dynamic twosome.

Felix Unger (Jack Lemmon) and Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau) are friends and sharing an apartment because Felix's marriage has fallen apart and needs a place to stay temporarily. Though Felix and Oscar are friends, their lifestyles and housekeeping skills are as different as night and day, which leads inevitably to endless confrontations fueled by frustration, and the results are pure comedic splendor. The hilarious, second to none chemistry between Lemmon and Matthau is the backbone of this film, accompanied by Neil Simon's incisive, wholehearted writing gives the movie its timeless quality.

Matthau and Lemmon both do a sensational job, because even though they can't stand living together, they both do care for each other, and their performances reflect just that magnificently. If you are looking for a timeless comedy classic with brilliant writing and wonderful performances, there is no need to search any further. The film received two Academy Award Nominations for Film Editing and Adapted Screenplay.

"The Odd Couple" is one of those movies that far surpasses its reputation. People all know it, they hum the theme song, they complain of living with a sloppy "Oscar" or a fastidious "Felix"...but they're under-selling the film without knowing it. This isn't just about a neat guy living with a sloppy guy; it's a portrait of two friends helping each other through the agony of divorce. It's also damn funny from start to finish, but it's the kind of comedy that arises from realistic, stressful, and just plain awful situations. So, some viewers have actually found the film to be a bit uncomfortable, but I think its verisimilitude is its strength. Besides, Matthau's bulldog face just cracks me up! My favorite comedy, by a country mile.

I simply can't get over how brilliant the pairing of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon is. It's like the movie doesn't even need additional characters because you can never get tired of the dialog between these two.

Lemmon had already been in several well-known films like Mr. Roberts and The Apartment and Matthau was fresh off his Oscar win for The Fortune Cookie (another Billy Wilder film also with Lemmon). That particular movie wasn't as great as this one because the story couldn't sustain such a long running time (I think it was almost 2 hours). However, this goes by at a brisk hour and a half, even though the introduction of the events leading up to Lemmon ending up at Matthau's apartment is a tad long (so was this sentence). That's a minor quibble though and for the rest of the running time you have a marvelous time.

I have already written a comment about how the follow-up to this film sucked and I won't go deeper into that. The reason why this is such a joy is probably that the movie was made just as the innocence of American movies was beginning to fade fast into oblivion. There are some sexual references but they are dealt with in such an innocent way that you couldn't even get a "Well, I never..." out of the most prudish person out there. It is kind of fun to see a movie from a long lost era and that was probably why the sequel didn't work because you had Matthau and Lemmon say quite a few f-words and that just doesn't fit them.

Of course, now they are both gone and you can just be happy that you still can enjoy them in a marvelous film like this. I think the only male actor in this film who is still alive is John Fiedler. Edelman died recently. So there you have it. Simply one of the best comedies and films ever.

Add: I have just learned recently that John Fiedler has died so to all the fans of him I am deeply sorry. I didn't mean any disrespect and I will try to be more careful of what I am blah blah blahing next time.

Buddy comedies always come down to two things: actors and their scripts. "The Odd Couple" works because it has two endearing characters and an often hilarious and always down-to-earth script, making it one of the best odd couple films of all time -- inspiring but not surpassing movies that share its genre, such as John Hughes' "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (1987) and Martin Brest's "Midnight Run" (1988). And, in some ways, even Barry Levinson's "Rain Man" (1988), a more dramatic buddy comedy that nevertheless takes a lot of pointers from this one.

Plots always help buddy comedies, of course, but it really depends on whether the two actors -- when confined to a solitary confinement -- can interact and make the audience laugh. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, two legendary screen comedians, can do just that. Their comedic chemistry in this film has often been mimicked by other rip-offs, such as "Grumpy Old Men." But this remains their ultimate combined-effort comedy.

This is the type of movie that is often referenced as the pinnacle buddy movie. Sure, it may not be the best, but it did inspire the entire odd couple genre, and I would definitely place it in the top five buddy comedies list if I ever made such a thing.

Felix (Jack Lemmon) has just been left by his wife, and so he goes to live with long-time poker pal Oscar (Walter Matthau), a grumpy and filthy slob who is the exact opposite of Felix, an uptight orderly man with a fetish for cleaning. In fact, he does just that in Oscar's apartment, which drives Oscar to the point of ultimate frustration. If these guys can't get along much longer, they'll just have to move along and forget their friendship. But things don't always turn out the way they appear.

Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple" is full of inspired lunacy. It has some truly hilarious moments with great gags and interaction between its two lead stars, whose screen chemistry is undeniable -- there's a reason Hollywood paired Lemmon and Matthau together an uncountable number of times.

The film is lacking the humanity and sorrow of its characters that shines through in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles"; there are few -- if any -- moments where the characters become so frustrated with each other that they blow up and then realize that they're not exactly how they thought. Remember the scene in the motel when Neal Page (Steve Martin) lashed out against Del Griffith (John Candy)? But after the comedy tirade ended, and as we laughed, the film took an unexpected turn when it revealed the Del character's utter hurt inside. Then we stopped laughing and we started crying.

That's lacking in "The Odd Couple," making it inferior to Hughes' comedy masterpiece, but it's a clever little film that inspired it all. Perhaps the best gag in the entire movie is one that was quite controversial at the time: Oscar finds a note next to his bed from Felix that says they're out of cereal, and the last two letters of the note are, "F U." Of course, the two letters "F U" are Felix Ungar's initials, but as Oscar implies, just imagine what he thought it meant when he first read the note.

I love comedies where you lock down a small number of people -- preferably a pair of opposites -- in a room and let their characters take over. I like when the dialogue is rich and funny and so very real. I guess I just like subtle character comedies -- overblown special effects comedies aren't always favorites of mine. "Dumb and Dumber" is one of my favorite buddy comedies, and it's not because it's crude or silly but because I like the pairing of its two stars, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, and I like the situations they get into.

"The Odd Couple" (based on the stage play by Simon) is the odd comedy that puts a smile on your face and delights the viewer. It's a fun movie, a great comedy, one of the finest and arguably the most acknowledged buddy film of all time. I saw it years ago and I've been laughing ever since. And despite its inferiority to some of the other buddy films that followed in its path, "The Odd Couple" is a delightful character comedy that will inspire similar comedies for years to come. Lord knows it already has.

5/5.

Neil Simon's play was successfully transferred to the big screen in this hilarious film with stars Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as Felix Unger(Super neat but depressed) & Oscar Madison(Super slob but happy). After Felix's wife leaves him, friend Oscar invites him to move in with him for a while(concerned he might kill himself) not counting on the disruption of his life this will cause.

Both Lemmon & Matthau are superb, perfectly cast and bring both unique characters to memorable life. Viewer will most likely identify with one character over the over, but that's to be expected. So many funny scenes and supporting characters, though does tip a bit too much in sympathy with Oscar, Lemmon is so appealing that story doesn't feel lopsided.

This inspired the famous sitcom with Tony Randall & Jack Klugman.

Often laugh out loud, sometimes sad story of 2 working divorced guys -- Lemmon a neurotic clean "house husband" and Matthau a slob sportswriter -- who decide to live together to cut down on expenses.

Nicely photographed and directed. The script is very barbed -- that is, there's always more than one side to almost every line. Particularly funny scene involves 2 british sisters (Evans and Shelley) who seem amused by everything anyone says, but when Lemmon busts out his photos of kids and, yes, ex-wife-to-be, he has the girls sobbing along with him before Matthau can show up with the promised drinks!

Very entertaining.

Felix Ungar (Jack Lemmon) is despondent after his wife left him. He even fails in his suicide attempts. He moves in with his divorced sportswriter friend Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau). Felix is a neat freak and Oscar is a slob. They don't make the best roommate. They are the odd couple. Oscar convinces Felix to go on a double date with the Pigeon sisters. It doesn't go the way Oscar wants which only makes the living situation worst than ever.

Jack Lemmon is terrific. His sinus problem is hilarious. The couple has great combative chemistry together. They are some great lines from Neil Simon. The Pigeon sisters send it over the top. In the end, this is the two guys' performances that make it so great.

A hallmark Neil Simon comedy shot with Panavision parameter by film/stage director Gene Saks, his second feature film, paired with Lemmon and Matthau, the second out of their 10 collaborations, after their prize-winning bash in Billy Wilder's THE FORTUNE COOKIE (1966).

In the main, it is a one-apartment knockabout, the eponymous couple, Felix Ungar (Lemmon) and Oscar Madison (Matthau), are best friends but equipped with diametrical personalities, Felix is a fastidious neat-freak whereas Oscar a congenital slob. In the opening scenes, we follow Felix wandering off a hotel-dotted Manhattan in the night, he checks in a high-story room and decides to kill himself spurred by the unforeseen cessation of his 12-year marriage, only to find the window is jammed.

Starting with a suicidal attempt going awry, that's the spirit a quality comedy should have because it heralds that nothing would go more serious than that! So once Felix thinks better of it, he goes to Oscar's place, literally a divorcé's dump littered with garbage, food and permeated with smoke, sweat and other repugnant odor, where he meets their usual poker friends, after a flurry of misunderstanding, Felix moves into Oscar 8-room apartment, that's when the discord begins to ratchet up. It is a time-honored template of mis-matched buddy romp, Neil Simon's script ensures that their disparity runs to the maximum in opposite scales, even to a fault at the expense of its characters' likability, especially Oscar, emblazoned as a macho ingrate, in comparison with Felix's nagging but at least good-natured punctiliousness. Thankfully, the two stars' chemistry gratifyingly hits the right mark (Lemmon is a compelling sprain-prone dynamo and Matthau is in his element with his trademark rakish sloppiness), and leavens the implausible story with trenchant one-liners (that F.U. monogram for instance), including a hilarious double date with the Pigeon sisters (Evans and Shelley) from Britain, where sensuality humbled by sentimentality.

In retrospect, THE ODD COUPLE is an archetype of urban bromance (minus the gay undertone), likens the friendship between two men to a married couple (the only missing link is the consummation) when they are shoved under the same roof, and aggrandizes their tough/vulnerable dichotomy for laughter, a thoroughly pleasurable pot-boiler (if not a sharp-edged satire or an irresistibly droll goofball) borne out of an ingenious idea.

Neil Simon hit it out of the park with "The Odd Couple". It was a very successful Broadway play, a very popular film as well as a long- running (and often imitated) TV series. But for all you folks that are only familiar with the TV versions, the play and movie were very different. While they're all comedies, the play and film were very dark...little like the TV program. The TV show never would tackle issues like suicide and Oscar would never come to a point where he contemplates murdering Felix!!

The film begins with Felix (Jack Lemmon) wandering about New York City is a daze. His wife, sick of his incredibly neurotic and irritating behavior has finally tossed him out...and Felix doesn't know what to do with himself. He eventually wanders over to the pig sty where Oscar lives and his poker buddies all just heard about what's happened with Felix...and they are worried he might harm himself. So Oscar asks Felix to stay with him. After all, Felix is a neat freak and Oscar a total slob...and perhaps they could help each other! Well, easier said than done, as Felix is so annoying that instead of helping Oscar, he might just help push Oscar over the edge! How's it all going to end? See the film.

As I sad, this film is dark. In the TV show, no matter how angry Oscar got at Felix, you know that down deep they love each other. Here, however, you think that perhaps THIS Oscar (Walter Matthau) might just kill Felix! Overall, a very good film but one that will appeal to a different sort of audience than the TV show...a more adult one that doesn't mind exploring this dark side.

THE ODD COUPLE (1968) **** Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau. Superb comic teaming of Lemmon/Matthau as fussbudget, neat freak Felix Unger and perpetual slob Oscar Madison, two recently divorced buddies in New York who decide to live together with some pricelessly funny moments and cutting dialogue. Based on Neil Simon's hit play and later a tv classic with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. Interesting note: original Broadway Felix, Art Carney, wasn't used in film because producers thought he wasn't a bankable name! Classic line: Matthau (after tossing Lemmon's plate of linguini at the kitchen wall and thinking it was spaghetti, only to have Lemmon correct him ) replies: "Now it's gahhbijgg!"

"Told you 158 times I can't stand little notes on my pillow. "We're all out of cornflakes. F.U." Took me three hours to figure out F.U. was Felix Unger!" Felix Unger (Jack Lemmon) is the neat freak, forming with his buddy Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau) the titular odd couple, and this line is only one drop of the ocean of hilarious one-liners this adaptation of Neil Simon's play contains.

And 'hilarious' is an understatement, because the more I watch "The Odd Couple", the more tempted I am to believe this is one of the funniest films ever. In other reviews, I would have left such a bold statement for the conclusion after a series of well-developed points, but this time, I give up, I have to say that first. I have to shout how truly funny Gene Sachs' film is, how high is the level of hilarity reached by its best scenes and how delightful it is to watch Lemmon and Matthau inhabiting the conflict between two grumpy middle-aged men that couldn't have been more opposite, the neurotic and overanxious Unger and the joyful and frivolous slob Madison. Even the title even resonates as the comical premise and the psychological core of the story, two men, two attitudes towards loneliness ... Felix is the agony, Oscar the ecstasy.

Much more, their attitudes in life have one thing in common: they're driven by their marital experience. Felix inherited the manic habits of cleanliness, Oscar not only rejected them all but exorcised his demons by shamelessly getting back to his roots and living like a bachelor again. In a way, the film opened my eyes of some endearing aspects of being a man: carelessness. You can smoke, drink a beer and put a glass on the table, even if it leaves rings, or not eat over the plate, even if it leaves crumbs on the floor, no one would shout at you. And every once in a while, Mister Hyde becomes the Doctor Jekyll and it's time to turn the place into something more presentable. Generally, it happens when you expect a charming visit, but that's the virile circle of life, 80% dirty and 20% clean, and I guess male bonding is about rediscovering the joy of carelessness together. Believe me, it's been eights months since I'm married and one year since I lived with my wife and I wish I could savor the taste of carelessness again.

Yes, sometimes, I look at bachelor's life envy. And when I go to my friend's house, I'm like in heaven. "The Odd Couple" has this appealing quality; it shows you that life hasn't changed much since 1968. I could respond to Matthau's Madison, even more because in life, my wife turned me into Lemmon's Unger. When my friend came to my house, I asked him to leave his shoes near the door, to have the round thing for the beer, not to mess with the carpet. He couldn't believe it, but well, he couldn't believe either the way the house improved, how full was the fridge, maybe he felt he was missing things too. Well, that's women, the cause and the solutions of our problems. And I guess the joyful bunch who come to Madison's flat to play poker every Friday night (great cast by the way) enjoy their game even more because they know after this virile oasis, they'll get back to marital routine. Married guys don't know what they miss, but when they become bachelors again, they miss what they lost.

And that's what Oscar and Felix have in common: they're not married anymore, both are divorced and divorcing, and when out of friendship, Oscar invites Felix to live in his eight- room apartment, he doesn't realize that he brought himself a man whose habits are worse than a woman's without the advantages of a woman. Both have two philosophies of life extended to their most extreme sides, one wants to enjoy freedom, another to control things, you could tell why both divorced (we can figure that for them because basically they can't) so maybe the salvation is somewhat in-between. But the film is less about the cohabitation process with a learning or a message than a series of hilarious sight gags and one-liners that are both witty and true to life. It feels like a sitcom sometimes but it transcends the material of a sit-com through powerful performances from a genuine odd couple.

Indeed, it's a comedy, a gag-driven comedy, and any other considerations are totally useless, it's all about the interactions between Matthau and Lemmon, the Auguste and the white- faced clown. And the force of the film is to never reach a breaking point of absurdity. Lemmon's mimics are hilarious, the opening sequence is probably the greatest tribute to his comedic talent, he's the true successor of Silent legends, his "FMUH" in the restaurant scenes killed me, but he never exaggerates them, he always carries the gravity of his character, with such versatility he could have made him a pathetic in a drama. Another example is when they invite two English sisters, both equally cute and funny. Well, in a bad film, the date would have been turned into a disaster, Today, it would have lead to some gratuitous crude gags, in "The Odd Couple" it's dealt with sweetness and a rare sensitivity.

The film deals with the pathos of his character with sweetness and intelligence, and their confrontation are so full of memorable lines that you never get tired of their interactions. It's funny, witty, hilarious. I guess it exceeds "The Producers" as the best comedy of 1968 and last but not least, it features a very catchy theme. Remember, it's the one Homer Simpson sang to Lisa, convinced that it was her favorite film, ta-tata-tataaa

Simon's best comedy is superbly crafted by director Gene Saks and given life by the immense talents of Lemmon and Matthau. No one delivers these lines better. No one times them better. Nobody does it better.

The Odd Couple made its debut on Broadway in 1965 and ran for 964 performances for the 1965-67 season. On Broadway it starred Art Carney and Walter Matthau. As Matthau had both won a Tony Award for his portrayal of Oscar Madison and was also just off an Oscar for The Fortune Cookie, he was a sure bet to be asked to repeat his role. But in The Fortune Cookie the teaming of Jack Lemmon with Walter Matthau won audience and critical raves so it was almost dictated by the movie-going public that they co-star in The Odd Couple.

What was started in The Fortune Cookie was made permanent with The Odd Couple. Lemmon and Matthau became possibly the last great male buddy team in screen history. Their impeccable timing and chemistry is what makes The Odd Couple the classic film it has become. I'm not sure who gets more laughs, Lemmon with his fuss budget ways or Matthau who became the greatest slob in movie history. When I see my messy apartment I always think of Matthau and Jack Klugman from the television series.

Paramount had the foresight to hire Neil Simon to do a screenplay adaption of his play for which he also won a Tony Award. Simon is one of the great chroniclers of life in New York and he hit his artistic peak here. Sad to say the Motion Picture Academy only gave The Odd Couple two Oscar nominations for Film Editing and for Neil Simon's screenplay of material adapted from another source, even if the source is himself. What I cannot understand is how they overlooked Neal Hefti's classic theme which became more widely known in the television series. It's one of the best known and loved film musical themes.

With the television series, two Broadway revivals and numerous repertoire companies performing this all over the world, The Odd Couple has become a cottage industry. Personally I'd like to see a gay version done of this play, the material would lend itself so well.

Nothing more, nothing less, The Odd Couple is as perfect an example of stage and film comedy as you can get.

In what must have been the biggest redundancy of the year, Neil Simon actually got an Academy Award nomination for adapting his Tony winning 1965 play "The Odd Couple" to the screen--redundant since the film seems to have preserved Simon's stage text word-for-word, with the pauses for theatrical effect kept intact. In their second screen-teaming after 1966's "The Fortune Cookie", Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon are equally good here, and often times very funny, but the material is crassly labored, with Simon over-emphasizing every irritating quirk (Matthau's sports writer is not just sloppy, he tracks in dirt and likes it that way; Lemmon's divorced hypochondriac isn't just natty, he's a walking phobia). Slim comedic story about two bachelors in New York City attempting to live together (in a humongous eight-room apartment with a view) has set-ups that constantly remind one this is just a loud transfer from its source. The jokes aren't varied, they're all in the same pushy vein, and Simon thinks hollering is funny; he uses yelling as the capper to every volley, every barrage of put-downs. ** from ****

Felix's (Jack Lemmon) wife has left him and he is contemplating suicide. His friends sense his depression and one of them, Oscar (Walter Matthau), volunteers to take him in until he is fine again. The two of them are like chalk and cheese - Oscar is fun-loving, gregarious and slovenly, Felix is a shy, stay-at-home, obsessive- compulsive neat-freak. Being around Oscar brightens Felix up, but he quickly starts to irritate Oscar...

Adapted by Neil Simon from a play he wrote, a movie that perfectly captures one of cinemas most enduring and prolific comedy duos - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Though not their first movie together - that honour belongs to Billy Wilder's The Fortune Cookie from 1966 - this is the movie that ensured there'd be more Lemmon- Matthau collaborations.

Both are in fine form here, and are perfectly cast for their roles. Wonderful delivery and sense of timing on both their parts.

Great script too. The dialogue is snappy and very funny, with some great one-liners. Some great sight gags too.

A comedy classic.