Customer Reviews
" WE'RE OUT OF CORNFLAKES! .....F. U. ! " 
2008-07-14
The original film that inspired the hit TV show is still a very funny and smart comedy! I had not seen this movie in many years and I found myself laughing out loud through out this exceptional film. A rare mix of comedy and an insightful look at the many layers that makes us all human! Lemmon and Matthau are perfectly cast in this classic as the two polar opposite buddies who end up sharing an apartment.
The TV show of the same name was one of the few truly successful movie to TV show tranformations. M*A*S*H* was another one that worked well. Tony Randall and Jack Klugman had great chemistry if not as layered, but this original film holds up well! The DVD transfer is very good, but only a trailer is included for an extra.
The Odd Couple 
2008-05-04
This is one funny movie! Neil Simon did the screenplay based on his script of the same name for Broadway. Neil Simon had the Midas touch, everything he did turned to gold. Neil Simon was one of the most successful of Broadway playwrights & he managed to do the same for Hollywood.
The Odd Couple are Jack Lemmon & Walter Matthau. This was their first teaming, later teamings included The Grumpy Old Men movies. Lemmon portrays Felix Ungar & Matthau portrays Oscar Madison. They're the whole show though the supporting cast is fine. Of course, most people know that Ungar is the fussy neat freak & Madison is the slob. They're being thrown together in one apartment leads to some hilarious situations & confrontations. Ungar has just been thrown out of his apartment by his wife Frances (never seen nor heard). He's on the verge of suicide but isn't able to go through with it, not his fault because he couldn't get his motel room window opened. He ends up at his good friend's apartment, Oscar, who has already been divorced. Felix agrees to move in with Oscar. Never has two people been more opposite than these two. Both have a lot of baggage but Felix is the king of personal health problems. His honking (clearing his sinuses & ears), his back & all around neat-freak character is enough to drive anyone crazy. Who would YOU rather live with: Oscar the slob who hasn't cleaned anything for a long time or Felix the neat-freak who is constantly cleaning, complaining & nagging? After watching this movie it might not be so clear or maybe it will be.
THE SCRPT IS THE STAR - FUNNIEST MOVIE EVER 2008-03-28
I've watched this movie over a dozen times, and it actually gets funnier the more times I view it - especially with friends and family. Though the classic comedy pairing of Lemmon and Matthau give an exceptional performance, the star of this picture is the script. Originally a stage play, the "odd couple" were in fact based on an "odd trio" of divorcees living with Neil Simon's brother. Amalgamated into two people we have Oscar Madison and Felix Ungar, two completely opposite personalities. Fastidious Felix's desire for order and cleanliness would today be diagnosed as an obsessive compulsive disorder. Meanwhile Oscar is a confirmed slob whose huge apartment would never pass a public health inspection. The story begins with a suicidal Felix attempting to throw himself out of a hotel window after his wife asks for a seperation. After failing to open the window (and injuring his bad back in the process) he makes his way to his best friend's apartment, where he is losing big in a poker game. Oscar invites Felix to stay, setting up a catastrophe of lifestyle clashes. The film contains an enormous 250 plus gags, based entirely on Simon's attention to minute character detail. Subsequently the film fails to date one bit, and remains hilariously funny. Lemmon and Matthau have rarely been better, though the successful transition to TV of the series, proves the importance of a script of this rarest of quality.
Friendship With A Few Laughs 2007-10-23
I just adored the original "Odd Couple". I have seen both tv and movie versions and am most enamored of this movie version. Not that I have anything against Jack Klugman (Oscar - tv version) and Tony Randell (Felix - tv version) who are phenomenal actors.
The movie version is basically the premise to the tv show. Felix Unger (played by Jack Lemmon) has just been thrown out of his house where his wife declares him a neurotic nut. He wanders the streets at night and attempts to commit suicide. What a downer, right? No, wait! It does, in fact, get lighter and funnier.
Anyone who has watched either movie or tv version knows that Felix moves into the house of his good friend, the slob, Oscar Madison (played by Walter Matthau). Oscar likes his friend Felix. He cannot, however, stand living with him. Felix is just too neat and too clean for our Oscar.
Felix is like the happy homemaker, cutting up sandwiches deli-style for the poker pals, cooking a roast and calling Oscar to see when he would be home so that it wouldn't dry up and spraying a room with enough air freshener to choke a horse. This behavior drives Oscar crazy. Not to mention Felix' constant hacking, wheezing and coughing because of his long list of allergies.
In the end, the twosome decide to split up but still remain friends. I like the contrast between the two characters and also the relationship between Oscar, Felix and their poker friends. This show proves that even good friends can have differenecs and still be friends.
This movie is a classic 2007-09-11
Every word in this flick is a punchline.Neil Simon did a great job.I miss Jack and Walter.May they rest in peace. s. suggs
Matthau and Lemmon 2007-09-01
No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: G
Release Date: 20-DEC-2005
Media Type: DVD
not all that funny 
2007-07-23
Basically contrived and a waste of time. Although am a huge fan of both Jack Lemmon and Walter Mathau...this poorly written flick doesn't cut it. Not the actors' fault, either. Blame it on Neil Simon--who was never very good to begin with.
To all the aspiring writers out there: if you want to know HOW NOT TO write a comedy all you have to do is watch anything written by Neil Simon. Why? Why does every third line have to be a "punch line?" Not only that, you can sense this guy (Simon) straining to be funny and clever...and he rarely is.
Most films written by this guy are really hard to take. Just my opinion.
They don't make 'em like this any more. 2007-07-18
The Odd Couple (Gene Saks, 1968)
When I was a kid, I was a huge fan of the TV spinoff series of this movie. And yet, somehow, I never saw the original flick. It popped up a couple of nights ago on Turner Classic Movies, so I flopped down on the couch and gave it a go. My daughter wasn't so sure about it, and I'm not convinced my wife was, either, but I got a kick out of it.
Lemmon and Matthau, one of the great post-WW2 comedy teams, play neatnik hypochondriac Felix Ungar and sportswriting slob Oscar Madison, respectively. Ungar's wife has thrown him out; Madison has been divorced for years, and his wife lives on the west coast. Ungar, after his attempt at suicide goes wrong, comes to Madison for a place to stay for a few days. Madison sees all the reasons Ungar's wife threw him out (the obsessive cooking and cleaning) as perfect ways to complement Madison's, shall we say, less than pristine lifestyle, and invites him to stay there permanently. Fast-forward to three weeks later, and both of them are well aware why the other is divorced...
This is funny stuff. Yes, a lot of it plays these days as cliched, but remember that this is where the cliches got their start. This was 1968. Women's Lib was still coals simmering that hadn't erupted yet. Divorces were still few and far between. The idea of the sensitive man was still decades away from being popular. Felix and Oscar (and, for that matter, Cecily and Gwendolyn) aren't cliches as much as they are archetypes, folks. Look at it that way-- which is becoming increasingly easier to do as the country swings farther and farther back to the religious right-- and you see why this was one of the biggest hits of 1968. ****
The Humor is Dated, But the Movie is Great 2007-05-31
The late, great Jack Lemmon & Walter Matthau were one of the greatest comedy duos in the history of movies. This was (as far as I know) their first pairing, but they would reunite all through their careers and even died within months of each other. "The Odd Couple" introduces that same humor that we'd see in the "Grumpy Old Men" films and their other collaborations; The humor here is kind of dated, but it has its moments of fun and is, of course, incredibly charming. Jack Lemmon plays Felix Unger, a man whose wife has just filed for divorce. When we meet Felix, he's on the verge of committing suicide. Walter Matthau plays Oscar Madison, a divorced bachelor who spends his days gambling and getting calls from his ex-wife about how his alimony payments are late. With Felix's troubles, Oscar decides to let Felix stay with him.
The problem is, Oscar is a laid-back slob while Felix is a neurotic, neat freak...It doesn't take long before the two start to get on each other's nerves. The turning point comes when Oscar sets up a date for the two of them with two English sisters Cicily and Gwendolyn Pigeon and Felix breaks down, destroying the rest of the night. The film is written by Neil Simon, based on his play and this is a film that can truly be called perfect. As I said, the humor is dated and it's not as hilarious as it probably once was but there's not a single scene in the film that doesn't need to be in the film and there are no jokes that fall flat. They either work or they don't. Lemmon and Matthau are at the top of their game here and this is the best collaboration I've seen of theirs (although, the only other ones I have seen are the two "Grumpy Old Men" films). "The Odd Couple" is a human comedy that's realistic and funny with some great moments and a terrific, paradoxical ending. I highly recommend it.
GRADE: A
One of the Greats 2007-03-06
In my top five favorite all time movies. A must own.
