By now The Odd Couple is rather like returning to an old group of friends. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau never had a better pairing than their turns as Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison. The roles seem to fit each man to the tee or at least they make them their own. Lemmon is as hilarious as ever playing the neat freak hypochondriac who was recently divorced. He drove his wife crazy because he cooked better than her, cleaned more and was allergic to her perfume. She had to put on his aftershave instead. Then, there's Matthau reprising his stage role of Oscar the slob of a sportswriter with an affinity for messiness. Droopy jowls courtesy of Matthau. Put them together and you have some of the greatest comedic fireworks ever and it's so simple. You see all the poker playing gang is nervous that Felix will commit suicide, which he attempts during the films opening but he cannot get the window open. Thus, Oscar obliges to take in his buddy with the rest of the buddies keeping a wary eye on Felix. It's hilarious to watch them because they really care about Felix but they have no idea how to act around him. They think every move will be his last.
Oscar does not know what he's gotten into because Felix cleans up after him, follows him with an ash tray when he smokes, does the dishes, vacuums, sprays air freshener incessantly and even distracts Oscar from a triple pay while telling him dinner plans. Then there's Felix allergies, his high maintenance and yes, his pouting. He even ruins weekly poker night with cigar smoke replaced by fresh air and disinfected playing cards.
Bring in the twittering Pigeon Sisters Gwendolyn and Cecily and your bound to have more laughs, until Felix the killjoy hurts the mood. Now we truly begin to see Oscar's sour side which was mostly saved for his former wife Blanche. Now it is specially reserved for Felix and his maddening cleanliness that's gone too far. Oscar has a nervous breakdown and blows his top chasing Felix out. But Oscar is not a bad guy, Felix is his friend after all, and so enter the poker buddies once more to go searching for Felix. He has been taken in by the Pigeons and the two friends make up. As it turns out the two men rubbed off on each other, but there' no chance of completely changing them. They will always be The Odd Couple, just separate now.
The Odd Couple has such a wonderful mythology surrounding it thanks to Neil Simon's play, the film adaption and then the television show. Furthermore, it is one of those very special cases that was great on both the big and small screen, since Jack Klugman and Tony Randall were wonderful in their own right. Focusing on this film, the dialogue is not forcing the humor and it ultimately leads to genuinely funny lines coming out of the circumstances. The poker playing buddies are a riot from Florida-bound Vinnie (John Fielder) to nervous cop Murray (Herb Edlelman). The opening of the film is made by Neal Hefti's theme and I've got to say the sequence where Felix has his sinus attack is priceless. Without fail it puts me in stitches everytime as the weirded out Oscar looks on along with everyone else. I cannot help but love The Odd Couple. By now its too ingrained in me and that's fine by me.
4.5/5 Stars
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