On F List of Movie Reviews

(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)

---

The Fortune Cookie (1966)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 9/25

9/25: Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon appeared in ten films together, and The Fortune Cookie was their first.

It's not a good movie. All of the comedy, if there was any in the first place, is thoroughly drained. Billy Wilder has to learn how to cut down the running length by at least 30 minutes. Many of his films are overlong, clocking at two hours.

Although the writing is strong, the screenplay is akin to a game of checkers, not chess. Once the big move is revealed in the first fifteen minutes, there goes the bang, and it becomes a matter of waiting for the predictable "you know what?" change of heart. Boring, boring, boring. The ten-minute ending of Jack Lemmon and Ron Rich having fun at Cleveland Municipal Stadium is the clincher for '5' when it should've been '6'.

Walter Matthau may have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. His persona is a classic, but he'll be better. Jack Lemmon is mostly there, but he needs to tone down the theatrics. Ron Rich almost has it, but Billy Wilder ultimately lets his character go waste. On the other hand, Judi West and Cliff Osmond make out better as the ex-wife and the private investigator, respectively, despite their slow start.

All in all, The Fortune Cookie has the right ingredients to be a classic film, but it's badly cooked.

---