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The Odd Couple (1968)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 10/25

OddCo1
10/25: It's becoming clear that Neil Simon's screenplays are outdated.

To cite a few examples are The Odd Couple, The Goodbye Girl, and Brighton Beach Memoirs. They aren't funny or witty but boring, talky pictures. I'm pretty sure I would've felt the same way back then when they were theatrically released.

The first mistake of The Odd Couple is setting up a poker game with four guys not named Oscar or Felix. Who cares about them, and who cares about the game? Focus on Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau! It's what the film is supposed to be about. That's why the final half-hour got marginally better.

But make no mistake: the dialogue is bickering galore. It's annoying to listen to for two hours straight. When Oscar pointed out Felix's issues, most are news to me. Perhaps the filmmakers should've gotten rid of the poker stuff and focused on these guys as roommates? Meanwhile, the performances of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are fine, but they have to be served well by the script that's unlike a play.

Oh, yeah...it was interesting to see the triple play which was simulated. That's actually tough to pull off in any game, but even rarer is an unassisted triple play. It's been accomplished only fifteen times in MLB history. One of them remains unique: a triple play of any kind in postseason when the Cleveland Indians' Bill Wambsganss did it unassisted in Game Five of the 1920 World Series. Even more unbelievable is that same game saw the first grand slam and the first home run by a pitcher in World Series history.

All in all, I expected a classic out of The Odd Couple but got a bad film and didn't laugh once.