The Odd Couple II

Okay, so the sequel was pretty absurd, but it was Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau doing what they do best (it was also their final teaming). In this case, Felix Ungar (Lemmon) and Oscar Madison (Matthau) are driving to their son's and daughter's wedding in San something, California, experiencing various unpleasant situations along the way. Most of the movie's strength lies in its one-liners, most of which show just how much both men are seething. I think that my favorite scene is when they stop out in the middle of the desert, and...well, you have to see it. Somewhere up in that great retirement home in the sky, Oscar and Felix must still be getting on each other's nerves. They were truly great.

When Paramount decided to recreate two of the most beloved characters on stage and on the big and small screens fortunately Neil Simon was hired to age Felix Unger and Oscar Madison. And since this is done in real years, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau who played them on screen back in the Sixties aged right along side the characters they played. No one else could have done proper justice to Felix and Oscar and fortunately they were both alive to get the job done.

A lot has happened in the intervening years. Simon for some reason made Matthau far more ethnically Jewish in this version which finds Oscar living in a senior citizens center writing for a local paper covering minor league baseball and indulging in his weekly pastime of penny ante poker with some contemporaries. He's still the same grouchy lovable slob he always was. I do love that bombs away scene with the garbage bags from his apartment, I can't say more.

And then he learns that his son is marrying his old roommate Felix's daughter and both are invited to the wedding out in Southern California. Enter Jack Lemmon who after making himself a royal pest to the crew on the New York flight to California meets up with Matthau where they rent a car and journey to the small southern California town all of which begin with either San or Los in their names. Don't believe me, look at a map of California and see what I'm talking about. That is after leaving Felix's plastic bag wrapped suitcase on the curb.

After that for a good half the picture Lemmon and Matthau are alone on the screen and that's what the movie-going public paid to see in 1998 in their last joint project. Two of the greatest comic actors and I say that and not comedians doing their best with some of the most impeccable timing and diction and in Matthau's case one of the most expressive faces in film history. Getting involved with a pair of rednecks and their slutty wives and getting into a car with an aged Barnard Hughes who just stops living and getting stuck with a truck of illegal immigrants are the three situations that put them in the jurisdiction of Sheriff Richard Riehl who gets tired of hosting these two in his jail.

Comes the wedding and the aftermath and all I can say there is Oscar as a sportswriter who covered the Yankees would be familiar with what Yogi Berra said about 'De Ja Vu all over again'.

Oscar and Felix they're back, they're better than ever and with both Lemmon and Matthau now gone, we're sadder for the fact they'll never return.

It is sad to think that we will not have any more gems from either of these two screen legends. Lemmon was a great actor, as can be seen in any one of his many films (particularly, "Days of Wine and Roses," "Glen Garry Glen Ross"). He had a broad range, and could play comedy with the best of them ("Mr. Roberts," "How to Murder Your Wife," etc.) Matthau was a breed apart, having done many dramatic roles in is early career ("The Kentuckian," "Fail Safe"), but it was light comedy where he truly shined. He was one of those true "naturals." So, after the "Grumpy Old Men" successes, they are paired for "The Odd Couple II." From the broad range of commentary here, there are those who celebrate this film, and those who think it is lame. I feel it has good performances in a so-so plot, but it think it was a bad choice. They were both great in the first "Odd Couple," but who can deny that they abdicated the roles of Oscar and Felix to two consummate professionals, Jack Klugman and Tony Randall on TV? They polished those roles to perfection, and they had done all that could be done with them. It was pointless for Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau to go there again.

For me, "Grumpy Old Men" is how I would like to remember them. That film had a good story, and was supported by a great team of veterans, Burgess Meredith in particular. In that film, even the out-takes are great.

"The Odd Couple II" reminds me in many ways of "Tough Guys." Both films had legends, both as teams and as individual actors, so when Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster appear together for the last time, you want for them to have something really special. That is what we wanted for Jack Lemmon and Walther Matthau. These films are okay, but only because the actors are in them. They are not good enough movies to honor their memories.

"The Odd Couple II" is a yet another funny Jack Lemmon-Walter Matthau vehicle that has been dubbed awful by the critics. Films like "Grumpy Old Men", "Grumpier Old Men", "Out to Sea", while they may not deserve Oscars, aren't that bad and much better than such unfunny comedies like "My Best Friend's Wedding". Lemmon-Matthau are still funny as ever in their 70's. Not go what the critics say, this is a very funny movie.

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau appear in their final film together here after years of acting together (Matthau died recently). Here, they team up once again as Felix and Oscar. This time, they are on a road trip to their son and daughter's wedding (it's Felix's daughter and Oscar's son) and during the trip their are plenty of funny scenes and one-liners, but it just doesn't hit as well as the original. Good effort anyway. Written again by Neil Simon.