A New Leaf (1971)

Elaine May garnered fame in the early 1960s as the female half in the comedy duo alongside Mike Nichols who later directed such classics as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Graduate. This was May's film debut and she did everything; directing, writing and of course acting as Henrietta Lowell. Interestingly enough, the film we see is not necessarily the film she wanted but it is what it is I suppose.

Obviously Elaine May did a lot for this film, but the story starts with Walter Matthau who gives another memorable turn playing a variation on his prototypical grumpy grouch of a character. This time he's stuffy Henry Graham who lives beyond his means riding horses, driving a Ferrari and keeping servants. But he is very bad at what he does...which is nothing. His Ferrari suffers from carbon on the valves, his latest check has bounced and Mr. Graham is not a happy camper much to the chagrin of his long suffering lawyer Beckett (William Redfield). His only hope is to get his uncle to bail him out one last time, but it does not come without a price. $50,000 with interest unless Henry can find a wife lickety-split. The prospects seem grim and both men know it. On the urging of his faithful manservant Harold it becomes a mad race against the clock to find a lady with money to spare.

At a social gathering he finds the perfect object for his mock affection. Clumsy, bespectacled, messy and filthy rich botany professor Henrietta Lowell (Elaine May). The courtship is quick and as clumsy as ever because Henrietta is present. Henry only has one objective: get the girl and get the money with her. A little glass in the knee and wine on the rug means little. The wedding happens and what ensues is strangely comedic. Henry has outwitted his uncle and Henrietta's shady lawyer with his own intentions ahead of him. Soon he is running his wife's home, firing her servants, putting her life in order and generally being condescending. He even dabbles in toxicology over their honeymoon, because a nice simple murder would be nice.

But in a sentimental moment Henrietta names her new species after her hubby who actually is touched by the honor. On a camping and canoe trip in the Adirondacks Graham is as miffed as ever as he prepares to get rid of his wifey. Their canoe capsizes and it's the opportune moment since she cannot swim. In a moment of weakness he goes to her rescue and resigns himself to be a professor as she has always dreamed. He's a married man now. He'll need to leave the pesticides alone at least for awhile.

This is far from your typical comedy and yet Walter Matthau is quite enjoyable as he navigates the upper echelon with an air of snootiness and bother. In some strange sense I suppose it's even a love story because in some weird way Henry Graham needs Henrietta. She for one fell in love with him. But as Harold notes she has caused Henry to be far more competent than he has ever been in his life. By the end we're not really sure what to think. In some indirect way they are a match because they seem oh so wrong.

3.5/5 Stars

The Odd Couple (1968) - Updated

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

The Bad News Bears (1976)

The Bad News Bears is the quintessential sports movies about a rag tag group of misfits and losers. If there was ever a worthy heir to Charlie Brown's club it was these fellows, but that's not the end of it. Rome wasn't built in a day and the Bears pick up the slack after numerous drubbings. They somehow acquire Buttermaker's reluctant pitching prodigy Amanda (Tatum O'Neal) and their new star is town delinquent Kelly Leak (a boy who smokes cigarettes and rides a Harley). They begin to climb the ranks and Buttermaker realizes his squad has a fighting chance to make it to the championship game.

Things become more and more competitive culminating in the final showdown against the hated Yankees coached by Roy Turner (Vic Morrow). Buttermaker has recently become a hard nosed jerk solely focused on winning, but he has a mid game change of heart. He lets his boys play, clears his bench and the results are good if not great. However, The Bad News Bears can be proud that they left their heart out on the field and the Yankees will be going down the next year for sure. They may have lost the game, but they played together as a team with a lot to be proud of.

Walter Mathau has enough of the lovable grouch in him to make it work although he does have the foul mouth to go with it. Amanda is the perfect counter for Buttermaker, because they both have spirit and fiery impudence. O'Neal perfected the pout after Paper Moon (1973) and its still going strong here. However, she is not the only one. On a team that is populated by a few nerds and weaklings, there also are a share of sharp tongues and real potty mouths.

Carmen is a nice touch during the rout scenes  and it makes me think they never heard of the mercy rule, but I guess it is the 1970s and we have to have drama after all. This is far from a kids movie, but it probably resonates with the many adults who played organized baseball as kids.

The film is a satire of American's Pastime for this audience, because even on the smaller stage of Little League the game often gets blown way out of proportion. It becomes a question of are we playing it for the love of the game or to win at all costs (even if it means family turmoil). Morrow's character epitomizes just how far parents will go because they become so involved in the lives of their kids. Wanting to live vicariously through them, they push their children until they can no longer be kids, but must be perfect instead. The Bad News Bears choose to play the game for fun as it was meant to be played, and that is partly thanks to Buttermaker. They are not done yet though because there are still many more life lessons to be learned. I'm not sure if I said this yet, but this film actually made me laugh a lot since it began as a comedy errors and only then did it turn into a satire. The comedy was certainly present, but not the most important.

4/5 Stars

The Odd Couple (1968)

This film adapted from the Neil Simon play and spawning an award-winning TV show, is great in its own right. In probably their greatest and most hilarious pairing, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison respectively. Both men are divorced and after Felix almost commits suicide, Oscar allows his friend to live with him. Felix is a neat freak and Oscar is a slob creating conflict and many comedic moments along the way. Besides the main stars who are great, their poker playing buddies add to the humor. To round out the film there is the fantastic theme song which you cannot help from humming. Not to mention the comical Pigeon sisters either. There is no denying that this is a very funny film.

4.5/5 Stars