The Odd Couple (DVD)

...of it from them.Unfortunately,this is the only film I have watched at the cinema for over a year and whilst I was watching it I could not help but compare it to another film that I`d just watched that afternoon on the BBC .I cannot see this one staying the distance unlike the classic that I had only just viewed.

I shall then write a review of the one I enjoyed the best - "The Odd Couple" !

Being a busy person,I ...
...I have to rely on the television and it`s varied offerings to satisfy my love of movies.Even then I have piles of unwatched video-tapes with excellent films I will probably see one day before I`m 90.

I was very pleased then to discover in the T.V mags that the BBC would be showing many of the late Jack Lemmon`s films as a tribute to him. He has long been a favourite of mine.A very big advantage of watching on the BBC is that there ... more

Several weeks ago I noticed that "ciao" were asking if anyone had seen Jurassic Park 3 and invited opinions of it from them.Unfortunately,this is the only film I have watched at the cinema for over a year and whilst I was watching it I could not help but compare it to another film that I`d just watched that afternoon on the BBC .I cannot see this one staying the distance unlike the classic that I had only just viewed.

I shall then write a review of the one I enjoyed the best - "The Odd Couple" !

Being a busy person,I get very little chance to visit the cinema to watch new films so I have to rely on the television and it`s varied offerings to satisfy my love of movies.Even then I have piles of unwatched video-tapes with excellent films I will probably see one day before I`m 90.

I was very pleased then to discover in the T.V mags that the BBC would be showing many of the late Jack Lemmon`s films as a tribute to him. He has long been a favourite of mine.A very big advantage of watching on the BBC is that there are no adverts to spoil your enjoyment of it`s programmes and you can watch films uninterrupted .

I settled down to watch this 33 year old film and in no time at all was lost to the delights of one of the cinema screens great pairings - Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon
-may they both rest in peace in movie heaven! It also made me ponder that few of todays offerings will be so well received in 2034!Later that night as I was bored silly by Jurassic Park 3 I wondered if this was a premonition!

There can be few of us that do not know of this film.Matthau plays Oscar Maddison,a grumpy divorced sports writer living the batchelor life alone in his large New York apartment.He`s got very slovenly habits,the place is a mess due to this sloppy attitude to house-keeping but he likes it that way! It`s his home and he can live in chaos and domestic anarchy if he wants!We all know someone like Oscar,infact there is a little of him in most men.

The highlight of his life is the weekly poker session with his friends,Felix,Vinnie,Speed, Murray and Roy however this nights session is delayed because of the non-arrival of Felix.The buddies become perturbed as time goes on and he doesn`t show up.Their concern grows when a phone-call is received to say that Felix has been chucked out by his wife who is now going to file for divorce and that Felix has threatened suicide.

Felix Unger,played brilliantly by Lemmon,makes his appearance in the film with a half-hearted attempt at carrying out his threat,fails miserably and eventually winds up at Oscar`s place to the consternation of the guys.There is a tremendous scene when he visits the bathroom and the men follow him around .They then congregate at the door,
busting in when they believe him to be doing damage to himself.

Oscar ,being the" Good Samaritan" agrees to take Felix in as a house-mate and this is where the real comedy begins.It is a total mis-match of personalities,two friends whose life-styles are basically incompatible.Felix is meticulous and neurotic in his habits.We find that he is a compulsive and obsessive neat-freak, totally the opposite to Oscar.Felix begins to transform the apartment and for once it is neat with nothing out of place.Felix is now developing into Oscar`s house-husband with hilarious results.

Ther is no swearing and no slap-stick in this hilarious comedy of circumstance.Brilliant comic sequences follow,one after the other.Felix`s sinus attack in the restaurant where he makes "moose noises" to try to clear his blockages is comparable to Meg Ryan`s scene in "When Harry met Sally". The poker scene where the mates gradually fall under Felix`s spell is so well done it`s a classic.They actually start discussing and praising his culinary skills at sandwich making!It starts to drive Oscar crazy,eventually with him breaking down in frustration and reciting a catalogue of everything about Felix that drives him mad.("You keep me little notes......and I hate little notes......took me three hours to figure out F.U. meant Felix Unger")

The supporting cast,the three poker buddies and the two scatty English girls play their roles just right,never encroaching on the two main characters yet reinforcing the relationship between them.They all play their supporting roles so well to provide some of the funniest scenes in the movie.

This for me is one of the greatest comedy movies of all time and one that I enjoy watching time after time.It was a stroke of genius from Neil Simon to write the play and then to cap it by putting these two great actors together is unbelievable.Matthau originally wanted to play Felix and I`m glad he was convinced to play Oscar which he did play anyway in the Broadway production starting in 1965.

In the stage-play ,Jack Klugman took over the role of Oscar from Matthau and he also played this role in the long running T.V series of "The Odd Couple" which ran from 1970 to 1975 with Tony Randall having the part of Felix.I enjoyed the T.V series as well,and I`m sure it is due for a repeat soon (BBC take note)Oh-Neil Simon wanted nothing to do with that production except probably the royalties.This series never got a rating higher than no.36,today it would have been canned and never got to run for 5 seasons.

The writing of Simon and the direction of Gene Saks has produced a timeless master-piece that is as fresh today as when it was made.The film score of Neal Hefti with it`s very catchy theme tune is just right .Those of you who don`t know it will recognize it when you hear it (It`s been used in Friends). Neil Simon is responsible for so many other classic plays and films but I won`t list them here nor anywhere else for they are a matter of record.

I pity any actor that has to perform as either Felix or Oscar for they will always be judged against this film,and no director will make their production half as good as well. 

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