This is, without a doubt, one of my favourite films. It is perfect in every way.
The casting is supurb (although originally Lemmon and Matthau were to have played each others roles.....imagine that Lemmon as Oscar).
The script is immaculate. The timing of the lines is perfect.
The supporting cast are breathtakingly original and fresh.
Direction is invisible and the music just unforgettable.
It Could Not Be Better
posted by kevincahill2002 (Sun Mar 28 2004 19:06:00)
This is, without a doubt, one of my favourite films. It is perfect in every way.
The casting is supurb (although originally Lemmon and Matthau were to have played each others roles.....imagine that Lemmon as Oscar).
The script is immaculate. The timing of the lines is perfect.
The supporting cast are breathtakingly original and fresh.
Direction is invisible and the music just unforgettable.
Two things:
1. I saw it first run in a packed movie theater in 1968. Most of the time, you couldn't hear some of the lines for all the laughter.
People were pretty much choking to death during the scene where Felix is clearing his head in the restaurant like a bull moose while Oscar makes great deadpan facial expressions of embarrassment (hey, isn't this Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in the "restaurant orgasm" scene from "Harry/Sally" 20 years early?)
And the bit where, during their "silent war," Lemmon keeps tugging on the vacuum cleaner cord while Matthau's foot is on it. You KNEW what was going to happen. And when Matthau released his foot...roars of a laughter. I mean for like two minutes after the gag started, even with Lemmon unseen in the kitchen.
A great time at the movies. And remember: outside the theater that year, 1968 was a year of horror (RFK and King assassinated; Vietnam; riots.) Everybody wanted to laugh. There's a reason that a movie about two middle-aged men was one of the biggest hits of that youthful year.
2. They sold a soundtrack album for "The Odd Couple." It featured Neal Hefti's classic pop-jazz theme (how much richer and fuller and SADDER it is than the tinny version done for the TV show), other musical interludes from the movie...but was interspersed with dialogue tracks FROM the movie, about five of them. ("It took me three hours to figure out that FU meant Felix Unger!") Unfortunately, they put a laugh track on those pieces on the record. But they were funny, and I memorized them. That's where I learned about the great timing of Lemmon and Matthau ("I thought the gravy just...comes!" "You ignorant ignoramus...gravy.. doesn't...just..COME!")
I don't have the album any more. Damn.
I agree, it's an amazing movie. I can't express just how much this film cracked me up! For something that's 40 years old now I'm surprised at just how hilarious this is ; it's stood the test of time very well.
shareI sat one Saturday afternoon a few years ago and watched this film on TV. I had heard of it, possibly even caught little bits of it before but had never seen it. What a film, pretty perfect in every way. When I invested in a DVD player, it was one of the first movies that I bought.
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Agreed. This is chemistry in its most quintessential form; And I'm not just refering Lemon's and Matthau's back and fourth, but every aspect of the movie. It's ridiculously well balanced, to the point of perfection.
Now I'm not going to be completely bias and overcome over how much I like this flick and rant about how every stand alone aspect of this movie has yet to met its equal, because - let's be fair here - the main ingrediants are the terrific writing and acting; But in so many other movies that have had the same attributes going for them, some parts of the production usually comes up short. Not in this beauty, from the cinematography to the imagery to the score, everything carries the script and actors in the most effective way possible.
That's what I love about this flick, it's all perfectly in sync, turning the result into a single entity, not just different components assembled to their extent.
That, and the fact that it kicks the proverbial ass.
On that note I have to be a douchebag and bring up the rating. We all know that there are thousands variables to the ratings on imdb, and that it implies a grain of salt in any situation. But since is this movie, I'm going to have to be thickheaded and redudant; "Only 7.7? what the hell!!"
Actually, on IMDb, 7.7 is a pretty damn good rating, though I myself would rate it close to a 10.
Some of my favorite films have only rated 5.9 to 6.8, and those are not even considered bad scores here. Only when you drop below a 5.0 do I consider it to be a questionable film. And even some of those have been okay.
In other words, I don't put much stock in the scores here, or anywhere else for that matter. This would be a perfect case in point.
But anyway, yeah, great film. I was just reading some of the lines, hjaving not actually seen the film in years, and yet just reading the lines, and picturing the actors saying them, was enough to crack me up big time. A real classic for sure.
In other words, I don't put much stock in the scores here, or anywhere else for that matter. This would be a perfect case in point.
It was certainly a classic.
shareAfter all these years, still one of the best all time comedies. It's on tonight on AMC. Shuting off the cell phone, got munchies. All set to enjoy.
shareClassic. Funny, I stayed at The Warwick(opening credits) in 2010.
Oh dear, now more than ever we can use you in our sadly depleted organization.
The only thing I would have changed in this entire movie (I suppose if I was the editor) is the apartment scene near the beginning when they first show Oscar in the kitchen saying, "Out, pussy cat, out!"
Matthau's grand entrance should have been when he came out of the kitchen with the tray of food. So his 'pussy cat' line should have been uttered off screen.
Just my opinion...
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