Neil Simon's plays have enjoyed great popularity ever since he started writing in the 1960s, not only in the theatre but also as the basis for film scripts, generally written by Simon himself. Most of his plays are set in his native New York- "Biloxi Blues", based on his wartime experiences, is an exception- and it is notable that Gene Saks, the director of "The Odd Couple", is a New Yorker, as was Walter Matthau, one of its stars. (The other star, Jack Lemmon, was a Bostonian). All three men were involved in other Simon films. The previous year, Saks had directed "Barefoot in the Park", Lemmon was to appear in "The Out-of-Towners" and "The Prisoner of Second Avenue" and Matthau was to appear in several, including "Plaza Suite" and "California Suite".
When New Yorker Felix Ungar and his wife split up, he decides to move in with his old friend Oscar Madison, himself a divorcée. The film, which tells the story of their co-habitation, is essentially a one-joke comedy, the joke being that, despite their long-running friendship, the two men are very different in character. Oscar, a highly-paid sportswriter, takes no interest in cooking, cleaning or housework. Although he lives in a luxurious and obviously expensive apartment, he has, ever since his wife left him several months earlier, allowed the place to degenerate into an untidy mess. Felix, by comparison, is not only an excellent cook but also neurotically obsessive about cleanliness; after he moves into the apartment he spends most of his time cleaning and tidying it and berating Oscar for his slovenly ways. As a result the two men continually quarrel and bicker like an old married couple.
Most one-joke comedies do not really work in the cinema, but "The Odd Couple" is perhaps one of the few exceptions. Its great advantage is that Lemmon and Matthau were two of the best comic actors of the period, and both are on good form here. In his comedies Lemmon played various different personality types, but one thing that several of his characters have in common is that they like to be in control of their lives, and the humour derives from their (usually vain) attempts to reassert control after losing it. Thus Stanley, the hero of "How to Murder Your Wife", wakes up one morning to find that he has inadvertently got married while drunk, and George, the testy, impatient business executive in "The Out-of-Towners" finds himself confronted with an insuperable series of disasters.
Felix's problem is precisely the opposite of that which confronts Stanley. Stanley is a confirmed bachelor suddenly threatened by the loss of his bachelor status, which he equates with a loss of freedom. Felix is an apparently happily married man whose world collapses with the sudden collapse of his marriage. (Oscar, by contrast, treats his divorce with much greater equanimity). Felix is a comic character but also a genuinely pitiable one; in the early scenes he is actually contemplating suicide. His obsessive tidying of Oscar's flat can be seen as a desperate attempt to regain control over at least one area of his life. Although Felix might sometimes act like Oscar's "wife", there is nothing effeminate about Lemmon's portrayal, not is there any attempt to insinuate a gay relationship, which is important. Not only would any implication of homosexuality been frowned upon in 1968, much of the humour derives from the fact that the relationship is between two masculine, heterosexual men. Suggest that one, or both, is gay, and much of that humour is lost.
"The Odd Couple" is not Simon's best screenplay, but he always had the ability to write witty dialogue, and there is enough in this film to prevent the humour from becoming merely repetitive. Another plus is the attractive, witty jazz score from Neal Hefti, who also wrote the score for "How to Murder Your Wife". 6/10
When New Yorker Felix Ungar and his wife split up, he decides to move in with his old friend Oscar Madison, himself a divorcée. The film, which tells the story of their co-habitation, is essentially a one-joke comedy, the joke being that, despite their long-running friendship, the two men are very different in character. Oscar, a highly-paid sportswriter, takes no interest in cooking, cleaning or housework. Although he lives in a luxurious and obviously expensive apartment, he has, ever since his wife left him several months earlier, allowed the place to degenerate into an untidy mess. Felix, by comparison, is not only an excellent cook but also neurotically obsessive about cleanliness; after he moves into the apartment he spends most of his time cleaning and tidying it and berating Oscar for his slovenly ways. As a result the two men continually quarrel and bicker like an old married couple.
Most one-joke comedies do not really work in the cinema, but "The Odd Couple" is perhaps one of the few exceptions. Its great advantage is that Lemmon and Matthau were two of the best comic actors of the period, and both are on good form here. In his comedies Lemmon played various different personality types, but one thing that several of his characters have in common is that they like to be in control of their lives, and the humour derives from their (usually vain) attempts to reassert control after losing it. Thus Stanley, the hero of "How to Murder Your Wife", wakes up one morning to find that he has inadvertently got married while drunk, and George, the testy, impatient business executive in "The Out-of-Towners" finds himself confronted with an insuperable series of disasters.
Felix's problem is precisely the opposite of that which confronts Stanley. Stanley is a confirmed bachelor suddenly threatened by the loss of his bachelor status, which he equates with a loss of freedom. Felix is an apparently happily married man whose world collapses with the sudden collapse of his marriage. (Oscar, by contrast, treats his divorce with much greater equanimity). Felix is a comic character but also a genuinely pitiable one; in the early scenes he is actually contemplating suicide. His obsessive tidying of Oscar's flat can be seen as a desperate attempt to regain control over at least one area of his life. Although Felix might sometimes act like Oscar's "wife", there is nothing effeminate about Lemmon's portrayal, not is there any attempt to insinuate a gay relationship, which is important. Not only would any implication of homosexuality been frowned upon in 1968, much of the humour derives from the fact that the relationship is between two masculine, heterosexual men. Suggest that one, or both, is gay, and much of that humour is lost.
"The Odd Couple" is not Simon's best screenplay, but he always had the ability to write witty dialogue, and there is enough in this film to prevent the humour from becoming merely repetitive. Another plus is the attractive, witty jazz score from Neal Hefti, who also wrote the score for "How to Murder Your Wife". 6/10