The Odd Couple 1968
I feel like this was a big movie when it came out and of course it then lived on for years with a sitcom based on it. It is a little hard to watch now. Based on a play by Neil Simon, the characters and performances seem exaggerated greatly to play to the back row. Jack Lemmon's Felix character is completely unrealistic and Lemmon plays it over the top. Likewise, Walter Matthau's Oscar character also overplays the frustration and anger, though it is clearly being played for laughs. It feels too much like a sitcom with silly main characters. Occasionally there are some good lines, the music is iconic, and it is fun seeing New York during this time period, plus even Lemmon and Matthau are fun to watch even when they are hamming it up. Felix Unger has just been kicked out of the house by his wife, but he has two little kids at home that he doesn't seem that worried about until towards the end when he reveals he is seeing them every day after work (though not his wife? Where is she?). I think this shows that these characters don't have depth, they are just there to smash a bunch of lines back and forth. There seems to be no real development in either of these two until the very end of the movie, but at that point it seems like an afterthought. One nice thing about the ending of the movie is that it is able to have more of a resolution than the TV series which had to keep them as roommates forever.
Written: 05 Jul 2025
Owned on: Digital