Der Letzte der feurigen Liebhaber

Arkin gives a fine turn as a successful middle-aged middle-class fish restauranteur whose fingers smell of fish and who simply has to get in on this Sexual Revolution he's heard so much about. Thus follows three sequential trysts in his mother's apartment, the first with a the embittered Kellerman, the second with the flighty Prentiss and the final with the depressive Taylor, each ending in its own disastrous way. Arkin does a lot of his frustrated signature shouting and there's a lot of dialogue, but it is a Neil Simon play after all.

The Kellerman sequence is a bit tiresome and her many soliloquies bombastic and preachy. Taylor's vignette was more amusing--if you find bipolarism and melancholia amusing. Her demand that Arkin list three good people belabors the point.

But sandwiched between these two is the Prentiss episode, which is a gem. Prentiss plays the perky, quirky, dope-smoking character to a tee: "I know I'm a goofball but that's part of my charm." Those voice inflections changing 10 times a minute, those eye rolls, those downturned crooked smiles, teeter into the realm of self-parody but we're loving it. And it doesn't hurt at all that she simply looks like a million bucks.

This is a classic in my eyes, Arkin couldn't have been better. I love the long takes and the sometimes senseless arguments between the characters. I also like the score, it fits the time nicely. This is the movie that made me an Alan Arkin fan.

Married restaurant-manager (Alan Arkin, miscast but still charming) contemplates having an extra-marital affair, striking out three times with different women: Sally Kellerman as a jaded sexpot, Paula Prentiss as a pot-smoking flake, and Renee Taylor as a society wife with melancholia. If you're familiar with the Neil Simon play (a dinner-theater perennial), you know right off this stagy material is not suited for the screen. Director Gene Saks must've been raised in community theater--he has little visual imagination--however his pacing and rhythm are snappy. Kellerman's segment is the best (she and Arkin get some real repartee going), but Prentiss is sidelined by uneven writing and Taylor does too much shouting (noisier isn't funnier). The picture has a dull, washed-out look, and Arkin is really too young for this part (he's supposed to be a balding 45-year-old, but he appears to be in his mid-30s with a shaved head). Some amusing bits are scattered about. ** from ****

Neil Simon scripted this film version of his play, in which an almost constantly flustered Alan Arkin plays Barney Cashman. Barney is a middle-aged owner of a fish restaurant who feels rather dissatisfied with his ordinary life. He mistakenly thinks that the way to inject some spice is to have an extramarital affair, and as fate would have it, his mothers' apartment is vacant one afternoon a week. He meets with a succession of women whom he tries his mightiest to seduce: Elaine (Sally Kellerman), a cynical, unemotional sexpot with a very direct approach, Bobbi (Paula Prentiss), an air head, obnoxious entertainer, and his own friend Jeanette (Renee Taylor), a cuckolded wife suffering from melancholia.

Directed by Gene Saks, this never really comes off as cinema but more a photographed play, even with a number of outside shots. As such, it's very reliant on characterization and dialogue, and it proves to be fairly watchable. The performances, especially from Arkin, are basically stage performances that come across as over the top on film. And it's kind of hard to care all that much about this average-Joe schmuck in the lead role, and why he feels so compelled to cheat on his wife. The sequence with Kellerman tends to be the most amusing; she's fantastic in her role. Prentiss is a little much; her character could definitely be annoying to some viewers. Taylor is fine, but this woman she's playing will likely be a matter of personal taste: can a miserable person with self-esteem issues be all that funny under these circumstances?

Simon, of course, does come up with some entertaining lines of dialogue, and admittedly, Arkins' reaction to getting "stoned" is a hoot as Prentiss convinces him to try marijuana.

Fans of Simon and the cast will likely be a lot more forgiving than the average viewer.

Six out of 10.

Although Neil Simon material was already dating itself by the early 70's, Alan Arkin is a consummate pro as usual and the 3 women are perfect (even with the stale jokes). Paula Prentiss as Bobbi is the standout (as she often is), Sally Kellerman is majestically neurotic, and Renee Taylor has her usual funny voice. Arkin is beating a dead horse with his intent to use his mother's apartment for dalliances, but he's so in tune with this poor working stiff, you have to feel for him.

This material was going South by the release of this and there's not much to say about it (THE 70's HAD ARRIVED)! If you're an Arkin, Prentiss, or Kellerman fan you'll enjoy this on some level. A 5 out of 10. Best performance = Prentiss.