The Odd Couple

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are, in my opinion, one of the greatest comedic duos of all-time. Lemmon’s mania, neurosis and jitteriness is offset by the crusty, cranky and endearing Matthau in The Odd Couple. The Odd Couple offers up two great performances from two of my favorite funny men, who were not so secretly very versatile and could play practically anything. It never quite overcomes it’s stage origins, and it seems bound to recreating the conventions, sets and staging of its theatrical run. It’s not a bad adaptation by any means, but it never reaches the glorious heights of, say, A Streetcar Named Desire which moved past its stage origins to become a great film.

The story concerns two men going through a second bachelorhood. Matthau has been divorced for quite some time, and Lemmon is just starting the process. Lemmon’s character is not one who can deal with fluctuations in his personal life, or much of anything really. Fearing for his mental health and general well-being, his friends decide that the best possible course of action would be for him to move in with Matthau. Naturally, hilarity ensues. Like when the two British girls who live upstairs come down for drinks and swinging good time, in theory. Or when they go out to a diner and Lemmon insists on clearing his sinuses. Lemmon and Matthau give it their all, and they must be commended for their great performances.