X
- 1968
- Passed
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 45 m
- 1968
- Passed
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 45 m
Summary Two friends try sharing an apartment, but their ideas of housekeeping and lifestyles are as different as night and day.
Directed By: Gene Saks
Written By: Neil Simon
- 1968
- Passed
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 45 m
- 1968
- Passed
- Paramount Pictures
- 1 h 45 m
The Odd Couple
86
8.0
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Summary Two friends try sharing an apartment, but their ideas of housekeeping and lifestyles are as different as night and day.
Directed By: Gene Saks
Written By: Neil Simon
Where to Watch
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
86
100% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 10 Critic Reviews
86
100% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
What makes the film so charming is the comic interplay between Matthau and Lemmon.
By Martin Chilton
FULL REVIEW
Revisiting Saks’ screen version nearly 50 years later is like a class in how comedy and storytelling evolve, and how some aspects of a story endure over time, while others get sloughed away.
The Odd Couple, Neil Simon's smash legit comedy, has been turned into an excellent film starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Simon's somewhat expanded screenplay retains the broad, as well as the poignant, laughs inherent in the rooming together of two men whose marriages are on the rocks.
By Staff (Not Credited)
FULL REVIEW
Playwright Neil Simon occasionally takes off his clowns' masks to show the humans beneath. In doing so, he has made his Odd Couple real people, with enough substance to cast shadows alongside the jokes.
By Staff (Not Credited)
FULL REVIEW
Felix and Oscar are now part of the American mythos.
For all its overfamiliarity, this is a good play, easily Simon's best, and Matthau and Lemmon inhabit it with grace and style.
Saks takes Neil Simon's play pretty much as it comes, but with Lemmon and Matthau to watch, and a generous quota of one-liners, who needs direction?
By Staff (Not Credited)
FULL REVIEW
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 User Ratings
8.0
95% Positive
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
5% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 User Ratings
8.0
95% Positive
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
5% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
This is a fairly amusing comedy film from the 1960s. It is perhaps a bit un PC or stereotyped these days, in that it covers the risk of suicide from a guy who's marriage has just broken down but the awkward comedy did appeal to me never the less. The humour is pretty juvenile in nature but I didn't mind that too much. There's plenty of fast paced dialogue and some fairly memorable moments. The men are somewhat curmudgeonly and the ladies (well, some of them) somewhat 'dolly bird'-ish but I enjoyed the film and thought it was entertaining never the less. I wouldn't like to make fun of someone who was recently divorced but the comedy does come from other plot details - mainly the fact the 2 men have to share the same flat/apartment. The situations they find themselves in and how they defend their actions made me chuckle quite a bit. This isn't what I'd call a great film but its certainly good enough to be worth a watch - it has a bit of a farce type feel to it and I wasn't surprised its based on a play (by Neil Simon), as I did think it came across as a film that would be easy to stage as a play or theatrical production.
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Based on Neil Simon's 1965 play of the same name, Gene Saks's adaptation of "The Odd Couple" features a characteristically amusing pair of performances in the form of Jack Lemmon as Felix Ungar and Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison. However, beyond a few smile-inducing exchanges and a couple of clever sight gags, I just simply didn't find this to be all that funny. This isn't to say that the material at hand is chock-full of swings and misses or offensive subject matter or anything. I guess what I'm saying is, no one told me that this was more of a dramedy than a straight-up, straight-laced comedy. Indeed, Lemmon and Matthau are fun to watch together, with their onscreen chemistry comprising the key factor of enjoyment for me. There's just not really that much else here for my comedic tastes. Killer theme song, though.
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Production Company
Paramount Pictures
Release Date May 16, 1968
Duration 1 h 45 m
Rating Passed
Genres
Tagline Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are The Odd Couple
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 3 Nominations
Academy Awards, USA
• 2 Nominations
Laurel Awards
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations