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The Odd Couple

1968, Movie, G, 105 mins

The Odd Couple: Review

A film adaptation of a Neil Simon play, which means that it resembles an old, Manhattan-set syndicated sitcom. Gene Saks directing, which means that it looks like neither he nor the cast ever left the theater. The good news is that, as sitcom-style theater goes, THE ODD COUPLE is often highly amusing, with Lemmon and Matthau ideally cast as prissy neatnik and unmitigated slob. You all know the plot--both men have botched their marriages and try living together without killing each other. With gay domestic partnerships increasingly visible on the American family landscape, this film gingerly dancing around its own queerness does seem either ahead of its time or rather dated, but even if you take your Simon straight, so to speak, he does have a fairly good ear for a wisecrack, and the supporting cast is thankfully expert. The plot, nothing more than a premise based on Simon's real-life brother, Danny, goes nowhere, but then it's not really supposed to. Of course, if you don't feel like renting this video sitcom, you can always watch the actual sitcom with Tony Randall and Jack Klugman, still a big success in syndication. It's the same damn thing. leave a comment