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Odd Couple [1967]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Neil Simon's classic stage comedy made an effortless transition to the big screen in 1967, when The Odd Couple provided Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau with a tailor-made mid-career affirmation of their status as two of cinema's greatest funny men. Lemmon is Felix, manically obsessed with cleanliness and housekeeping, struggling to understand why his wife wants a divorce. Matthau is Oscar, his slovenly poker-playing buddy who invites him to take the spare room and lives to regret it as they rapidly and comically come to grief like an old, totally incompatible, married couple, revealing exactly why their respective wives have had enough. "I don't think two single men living alone in a big eight-room apartment should have a cleaner house than my mother", Matthau wails, trying to make sense of the disintegrating situation.

The pair devour Simon's typically sharp and witty script in a frenzy of classic one-liners that allow Lemmon's trademark twitchy neurosis and Matthau's baleful cussedness to flourish. Great as they are, though, they are nearly eclipsed in the funniest scene of the film by Monica Evans and Carole Shelly as a couple of British expatriate sisters from the apartment upstairs. Carry On innuendo briefly meets Manhattan repartee and the screen crackles with brilliance. It's a comic masterclass.

On the DVD: The Odd Couple on disc has no extras apart from the original cinema trailer, but the film, presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, is pristine, Neal Hefti's score providing that instantly identifiable flavour of sophisticated 1960s American comedy. --Piers Ford


An absolute classic
Review date: 2008-06-05 Rating: 10 out of 10

"you keep leaving notes on my pillow, it took me 4 hours to realise that 'FU' stood for Felix Unger"

This is a classic Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau film and should be in any collection of dvds.
The sequel, although entertaining, is no where near is brilliant as this masterpiece. A film you will want to watch over and over again.
Without wanting to spoil it for those that have never seen it, it's about 2 friends who become enemies after one (Jack Lemmon) moves in with Oscar (Walter Matthau) after his wife has left him. The entertainment begins as soon as the film starts and does not end until the final credits. If this film does not make you cry with laughter I'm not sure anything will. Although I would perhaps try 'Some like it hot'...

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Reviews


One of my favourite movies
Review date: 2008-06-04 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is so funny it's not true. The lines are amazing and so is the acting, with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau both giving of their finest. This made me laugh like nobody's business when I was 12, and 20 years later it still does. Fantastic stuff.

A flat production, but no one told the two stars
Review date: 2007-08-02 Rating: 10 out of 10

Largely set bound, straight adaption of a claustraphobic comedy of manners, it feels a bit stodgy, but...The but is, despite being flatly handled by the director, the two stars tear into their roles with real zest, and obviously appreciate this quietly funny script. Fairly typical Simon dialogue gets the full treatment by this great double act. It's ying and yang all the way, or really him and her, Lemmon taking the role of her. Some of the film's best scenes are the few outdoors scenes, and they definitely help alleviate the stir-crazy feel you get with domestic scene after domestic scene. The comedy is there, but you do get hemmed in by it all in the same sort of way that Oscar does. Good use of widescreen adds much atmosphere, and the theme tune, fading in and out during the film is pure class. It comes through the rather stolid direction to make itself a much loved classic.

My favourire film
Review date: 2007-07-19 Rating: 10 out of 10

Brilliantly written, impeccably acted. Proof that comedy doesn't have to be viscious, brash or hateful.

An absolute comedy classic...
Review date: 2007-06-08 Rating: 10 out of 10

This film, despite its age is probably a funnier film than many coming out today. Played by legendary funnymen Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon this is a comedy with a wonderfully simplistic premise.

Felix (Jack Lemmon's) long suffering wife has had enough of her husband and dissolves their marriage. Cue the funniest opening scenes I have ever witnessed in a film as Felix, in his search to commit suicide, asks for a higher floor room, pulls his back out trying to open the window and suffers a number of mishaps before deciding he'll go and talk to his slovenly friend, sports journallist Oscar (Matthau)

Oscar is a man who lives in an eight bedroom apartment surrounded by green sandwiches, oppresive heating and whose weekly highlight is his beloved poker night, and plenty of warm beers. Oscar is an untidy slob, his apartment a bactrial breeding paradise - until Felix, the obsessive cleaner with several funny conditions (the scene in the cafe of him "clearing his sinuses" is an absolute hoot!) moves in.

At first, its a match made in heaven. The apartment is spotless, everyone has cold beers and "perfect" sandiwches, and Oscar is relishing his new tidy, helpful housemate.

Soon though, Oscar starts to feel the pressure. Felix is obbsessive, motherly almost. He calls Oscar to ask what he wants for tea, complains when he is late, and nags like Oscar's previous wife. Soon Oscar is rebelling, back to wiping his feet on the curtains and treading on the cushions and threatening to kill his annoying friend.

This film is funny because Oscar and Felix bicker like a married couple, and you can see why their respective wives left them! It's sharp, witty and beautifully acted.

Pure genius. Pure classic!

Watch it. Love it. Watch it again, and get the theme tune stuck in your head for days...

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Larry Haines
John Fiedler
Herb Edelman
Jack Lemmon
Walter Matthau

Creators:
Jack Lemmon (Primary Contributor)
Walter Matthau (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Paramount Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Paramount Home Entertainment
EAN: 5014437817938
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2002-09-02
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 101 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1967
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired)
Language: Danish (Subtitled)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Subtitled)
Language: Norwegian (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: Swedish (Subtitled)
Language: Turkish (Subtitled)
Language: French (Dubbed)
Language: German (Dubbed)
Language: Italian (Dubbed)
Language: Spanish (Dubbed)

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