The Odd Couple: 500th Review

Happy Valentine's Day, and Happy 500th movie review!  I plan to celebrate with a large bowl of ice cream or a brownie sundae... regardless, I predict ice cream (and a heavy fleece blanket or a mug of hot chocolate) in my future.
100 was knights... 200 was war ... 300 was cops ... 400 was monsters...

"I think I'm crazy."
"If it makes you feel any better, I think so too."

When Felix Ungar's (Lemmon) wife asks for divorce, everyone is concerned that he will do something rash.  However, Felix is too neurotic to do any real damage.  That night, he ends up at the weekly poker game at Oscar Madison's (Matthau) apartment.  Unlike their other friends, Oscar is also divorced.  Oscar explains that he doesn't like to live alone and asks Felix to move in.

Oscar is a slob, who has a broken fridge and air conditioner and serves "green" or "brown" sandwiches.  And, he hates his ex-wife.  Felix is neurotic, obsessive compulsive and an excellent cook.  He is still hung up on his ex-wife.  After living together for a few weeks, they are driving each other crazy.  Can they co-exist in the apartment, or will they drive each other away?


In 1965, Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple" premiered on Broadway.  The show starred Walter Matthau as Oscar and Art Carney (best known for the TV show "The Honeymooners") as Felix.  When they adapted it for film, the producers didn't think Carney was a big enough star, so they replaced him with Jack Lemmon.  Lemmon and Matthau were friends in real life and this was their second collaboration (they made 10 films together).  In 1970 "The Odd Couple" became a TV show, starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman.

This film is one of the most enduring buddy comedies.  It's formula has been mimicked and mocked numerous times, including another Lemmon / Matthau pairing: Grumpy Old Men.  The films works because Lemmon and Matthau have incredible chemistry, and are gifted actors / comedians.  Even without talking they draw you into the story.  The film begins with Felix's journey to the poker game.  With only a few lines of dialog, you understand the character.  And when the film cuts to Oscar's apartment, you understand him as well.  Lemmon and Matthau are surrounded by talented character actors.  The men who make up their poker buddies are great and do so much with only a few scenes.  The 2 female characters, played by Monica Evans and Carole Shelley, have incredible chemistry as well.  They had the chance to reprise these characters in Disney's Aristocats, as the geese Amelia and Abigail.

A truly awesome comedy (and available on Netflix instant streaming).

The Odd Couple (1968) 105 minutes
Director: Gene Saks
Starring: Jack Lemmon as Felix Ungar
Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison
John Fiedler as Vinnie
Herb Edelman as Murray
David Sheiner as Roy
Larry Haines as Speed
Monica Evans as Cecily Pigeon
Carole Shelley as Gwendolyn Pigeon