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Information

Year
1968
Runtime
105 min.
Director
Gene Saks
Genres
Romance, Comedy
Rating *
7.7
Votes *
16,198
Checks
5,359
Favs
287
Dislikes
19
Favs/checks
5.4% (1:19)
Favs/dislikes
15:1
* View IMDb information

Top comments

  1. Yarb40's avatar

    Yarb40

    Truly one of the greatest comedies ever made. 12 years 1 month ago
  2. CinemaDump's avatar

    CinemaDump

    The Odd Couple began its life as a Broadway play with Art Carney and Walter Matthau as Felix and Oscar respectively. Before Jack Lemmon got the Felix role, many other big names were rumored to get the role like Frank Sinatra or Dick Van Dyke. Famed producer Robert Evans wanted Lemmon though and got him which makes The Odd Couple the second of ten movies that Lemmon and Matthau appeared in together.

    Neil Simon is the writer for The Odd Couple and of course is also responsible for the Broadway play. I'm not cultured enough to have seen any of his plays but I've seen some of the other movies he's written like The Out of Towners and The Heartbreak Kid which are great. Some movies you can just tell that they were at one time a play but I find the The Odd Couple kind of escapes that. It lends itself extremely well to being a movie and it goes without saying that it is very well written.

    Felix Ungar (Jack Lemmon) checks into a cheap hotel in New York with the intention of killing himself. He makes sure to get a room very high up but when it comes to opening the window to jump, the window is jammed and he hurts his back. While Felix continues to have one misfortune after another in his bid to die, Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau) is with a group of friends playing poker and they're confused as to where Felix could be as he'd never been so late before. Speaking to Felix's wife Frances, it turns out that the two have split up and Felix is probably out trying to kill himself. Felix eventually shows up and is invited to stay with Oscar for a while.

    The black comedy elements of The Odd Couple are especially clear in the very beginning when Felix Ungar is trying to kill himself. A man trying to kill himself is very rarely funny but Neil Simon makes it so. The score also goes a long way in making the black comedy work. Jack Lemmon also deserves full credit for his portrayal of Felix Ungar and making the comedy work. It's like he really is Felix and he is paired so well with Oscar. The two are a great pair and they have great chemistry. Lemmon and Matthau are one of the key factors as to why The Odd Couple works so well.

    Overall, the humour still works very well and has aged very gracefully. There's some pretty blatant sexism in a diner scene where Oscar pulls some moves on a waitress that would be pretty shocking if something of the sort were pulled today. But this is 1968 though and stuff like that has to be taken with a grain of salt. There are lots of laughs to be had in The Odd Couple and a lot of them are created single-handedly by the Lemmon/Matthau pairing.

    The movie actually gets pretty deep at certain points but always with a smile on its face. I also love the set for Oscar's apartment that goes through a massive change following the moving in of Felix. Most of the movie takes place in the apartment but it never gets boring. The dialogue is smart as a whip and let me just say that the ending is very good.

    I went into watching The Odd Couple knowing that I was going to like it and I did. I think I liked it a bit better than I was expecting even. Lemmon/Matthau are like pancakes and maple syrup. They're like Oreos and milk. The script is also very well put together. The premise is simple but the resulting movie is absolutely hilarious.

    8/10
    9 years 8 months ago
  3. bm97's avatar

    bm97

    I am yet to find a subpar Jack Lemmon's role. Not a fan of comedies, but this movie transcends a typical comedy format. An incredible movie. I feel jealous of all the people who experienced it on Broadway. 3 years 2 months ago
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In 3 official lists

  1. This movie ranks #17 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs
    AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs's icon

    AFI's 100 Years...100 La…

    17
  2. This movie ranks #68 in Emma Beare's 501 Must-See Movies
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    Emma Beare's 501 Must-Se…

    68
  3. This movie ranks #263 in Box Office Mojo's All Time Adjusted Box Office
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    Box Office Mojo's All Ti…

    263
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