Review: ‘The Odd Couple’ on DVD
You know the music. You know the set-up and you’ve seen it played out in countless variations. Still, there is nothing like the original. Paramount’s Centennial Collection continues today with two more classic releases, including Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple
Based on his box office smash play (which in turn was inspired by his brother’s life), Neil Simon took the story of two mismatched divorced men trying to live together and made a sad state of affairs hilarious.
On Broadway, the inimitable Walter Matthau was matched with Art Carney, fresh from his run with Jackie Gleason, but for the film, Paramount exec Robert Evans went for Jack Lemmon, who played previously with Matthau in [[[The Fortune Cookie]]]. On screen, the two had chemistry in spaces and it was necessary to make this work. One is a sports writer slob, the other a high-strung metrosexual (long before the word existed) news writer. When Lemmon’s Felix Unger is tossed out of his house, he makes several attempts at suicide before turning up at Oscar Madison’s pigpen apartment during the weekly poker game with the guys. Madison takes pity on Unger and invites him in.
Over the course of three weeks, Unger spruces up the apartment, saves Madison a ton of money (so he can finally catch up on his alimony), and quickly drives his best friend nuts. And when they try a double date dinner with the Pigeon sisters, you see just how hurt Unger is, something Madison never seems to note until then. It just takes him longer to understand what to do.
The movie has a supporting cast of poker buddies filled out with the late John Fielder and Herb Edelman among the quarter. They show how the circle of friends are shades of Oscar and Felix and why they put up with—and support–one another.
The set pieces are brilliant, with terrific comic timing that remains funny even today. On the other hand, the 1968 movie is based on a 1965 play and completely is self-contained so you have no sense of the changes going through Manhattan and American society. As a result, it has a somewhat dated feel regardless of the fine direction by Gene Saks.
As with the first six releases in the set, the second disc comes with an assortment of original production commentary. Unlike the 1950s offerings, this one feels very thin with several short pieces interviewing the surviving production crew and cast, starting with Saks. Simon is nowhere to be seen. Matthau and Lemmon’s sons talk about their fathers and what it was like growing up with them. The shorts celebrate the brilliance of Simon and his script but it still incomplete. Even though Brad Garrett is on screen talking about his part in the most recent revival, everything in between is ignored. Not a word about how the concept gave birth to the first great sitcom of the 1970s, with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall taking these great roles and running with them for six seasons. Nothing about subsequent revivals of the play, nothing to show how it has endured.
Also missing were features that linked this disc to the overall centennial celebration which is a disappointment.
Still, the movie makes you laugh out loud and it’s nice to have a pristine edition for repeated viewing.
Man, we are so behind… busy busy busy here. Some items from the past few days to tide you over:
In my misspent youth I took French lessons and am able to get through Paris without causing International Incidents. My reading skills in French are better than my ability to speak it, and that’s okay: I like to think you get into less trouble with an open book than an open mouth. Little Did I Know.
. It was written by marvelously prolific French writer-artist Joan Sfar, and let’s get one thing out of the way now, FWIW: Joan is a man. It happens.
is set in 1930s French North Africa. I’m being typically lazy as I write this, which is why I’m fudging on exactly where in French North Africa. Morocco, I think. (Mmmmm, fudge!) The protagonist is—see if you can guess. . .YES! Right in one!—the rabbi’s cat. He looks to be related to the Sphinx breed and he dwells with the rabbi and the rabbi’s beautiful daughter.
First the New York Times makes a graphic novel bestseller list… now the Hugos are getting int the act.
BATTLESTAR may be over, but the online reviews rage on and the ratings are big. Meanwhile, we talk more with the writer, director and star of SUPER CAPERS while STAR TREK gets hit with an old school lawsuit and THE SIMS invade…ONE TREE HILL?
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Having grown up on James Bond movies, I have been conditioned to expect certain lines, images and sounds. As a result, I was curious to see what would survive when the franchise was rebooted with 
. They played with the martini line but maintained the title theme and gave us a fresh start (although I still think Daniel Craig is too old for Bond at this stage in his career).
You have to wonder if the April’s Fools stories are coming out early… but apparently not. According to Variety, Disney will release producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s family-targeted live-action movie The Sorcerer’s Apprentice on July 16, 2010. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice joins two other Disney kid/family-centric pictures set for that summer: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, set for May 28, and Pixar’s Toy Story 3, which opens July 18.
One of the key differences between watching [[[Watchmen]]] and reading the complete book is the rich variety of extras in print. In addition to the story, there was the secondary story, [[[Tales of the Black Freighter]]], in addition to newspaper clippings and excerpts from Hollis Mason’s [[[Under the Hood]]]. Initially, these extras were never considered but were instead added after DC’s management wisely decided the maxiseries should appear without advertising. Freed, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons filled the pages with rich context, inviting readers further into their imagined universe and making for a more fulfilling reading experience.
, available to buy or download on Tuesday, you feel like you’re getting supplemental material divorced from the main story as opposed to being fully integrated with the Zack Snyder-directed feature film. One supposes we must all wait for the director’s cut where at least the Pirate tale will be once more edited in with the main story.
