Rettet den Tiger

The wife is out of town, the kids are in bed, it's just me and the dog.....Save the Tiger came on AMC. I remember going to the theater in 1973, at age 18 and seeing this movie. I was impressed by Jack Lemmon's performance back then. Seeing it now, at age 44....Wow! Jack was my father back then, now I'm my father. I think save the Tiger was the first movie I ever saw that didn't have a happy ending. Except for some dated parts, it is still a very powerful movie about the harshness of life. In real life, well dressed men and women spend every day trying to continue while burdened with almost impossible problems on their back. And we do what we have to do to get by. Little honor in that, but it's real life. Save the Tiger reminded me to be a little nicer to the next grump I meet, I may not know what is hiding behind the nice suit. Laurie Heineman as Myra the hippy chick excited me then and now and is still that fantasy oasis every aging, harried man dreams of to escape the world of his own making.

I first saw this movie as a young man on PBS in Boston,in the late seventies and was immediately struck by the power, honesty and conviction of Lemmon's portrayal, of the ultimate mid life crisis.

Little did I know, that thirty years later, I would be going through one of my own and would once again be drawn to, and struck by, the sincerity and integrity of Jack Lemmon's performance.

The film has it's critics, self indulgent, sentimental and simplistic are only some of comments made, but the film still has the power to make you question what you have done with your own life. It asks you how you got to where you are, and it makes you ask yourself if it was all worth it. It also questions/exposes the Great American Dream and asks, if that is not the be all and end all, then what is?

Harry Stoner is not a man you should feel sorry for, but Lemmon's interpretation forces you to question his ideals and your own, as you follow this crisis point in his life. In the end, whether you like the film or not, or agree with what it is trying to say, you can't deny Lemmon his Academy Award.

Lemmon won the Oscar for his Save the Tiger performance. He is complimented by Gilford as his partner. Lemmon is excellent as a troubled businessman at the breaking point because of financial troubles; it makes him decide to torch his warehouse so he can collect the insurance money.

Jack Lemmon's wonderful gift for portraying the every day man is fully at work here.

The film almost has a low budget, made-for-television feel and look. But it still delivers an engrossing story of people under stress.

This superb drama offers middle-aged longing, lost dreams, success, despair, and superb acting by Jack Lemmon (won the Oscar) and Jack Gilford (nominated for supporting). BUT: this film is not for everybody. A serious drama about middle-aged loss, struggle, and fading dreams won't grab every one. It's too slow for some viewers, and too realistic for some others.

Harry Stoner (Lemmon) is as an LA businessman who seeks an arsonist to burn him out so he can collect the insurance and rebuild his failing business. His aging partner Phil Greene (Jack Gilford) opposes this, but realizes at his age (close to 65) he may never find another job. Both men are decent but jaded, and troubled by the lost innocence (or false innocence) of their youth in Brooklyn. Harry is also troubled by post-traumatic stress flashbacks from his lost comrades at Anzio in World War II, while Phil is troubled by going along with a crime that means losing his integrity. Both men appear to be Jewish, and may feel added burdens that come with having beaten anti-Semitic discrimination (or worse). There is the also longing for their boyhood in New York, before crime made cities less safe, and before the Dodgers (plus these two men) deserted Brooklyn for Los Angeles - which is not quite the sunny paradise that both probably hoped for. This film also came out in 1973, as Watergate, Vietnam, and the non-success of the Great Society all seemed to evidence a certain national decline.

Save the Tiger is like "Death of Salesman Goes To LA." There is fantasy, failure, and searing struggles for success. The two main characters are not so tragic as Willie Loman; yet they are not all that far removed, either.