Toi et moi

Jack Lemmon is a misanthropic cartoonist who hates women, dogs, children and is going blind. He's just published a book called THE WAR BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN, and is enduring the inevitable cocktail party where people tell him that they don't understand his jokes and he can't draw. There he meets Barbara Harris, a divorced woman with several children, and they fall awkwardly into love.

I first encountered James Thurber in the late 1960s and was largely enchanted. I think his misanthropy was one of dissatisfaction with people's inability to be forthright and strong and competent, and the fact that he couldn't draw a woman crouching on a staircase.... or the bookcase it became. A key figure in the New Yorker magazine, his talent was that of the second rank. A couple of stories survive, a couple of cartoons, but his misanthropy, masquerading as misogyny, does not play well anymore.

So this is a bewildered romance, between the Thurber Man and the Thurber Woman, and it's a mildly depressing comedy, with the high point Jack Lemmon wandering through a gallery of giant drawings, while he narrates his book to Lisa Gerritsen. I think it captures Thurber's works well, given the quality of the adult cast, which includes Jason Robards and Herb Edelman.

"The War Between Men and Women" is a film that is based on the life of the humorist, James Thurber. But instead of setting it during Thurber's lifetime and using his name, the story is set in 1972 and with different names for the various characters. It also takes liberties with Thurber's life story.

When the story begins, Peter (Jack Lemmon) is a bit of an old crank...a single, dog and child-hating bachelor and proud of it. However, when he meets Terry (Barbara Harris), his resolve to remain single vanishes...as well as his hatred of kids and dogs since Terry has both. The rest of the film is about his adapting to this change in lifestyle....as well as Peter dealing with Terry's ex- (Jason Robards Jr.).

As you'd expect with the actors, the acting is the best part of this film. As for the script, it's decent and entertaining. My only quibble is that I'd love to know how close this story is to Thurber's life. I mentioned some of the similarities above but am not sure how much of the story was 'Hollywoodized' and how much is true.

The drawings that Peter makes throughout the film are based on the art style of Thurber as is the character being legally blind and an old crank. Thurber himself could not have made the drawings or weird animated portion as he'd died in the early 1960s.

Unless you are trying to see all of Jack Lemmon's films you should probably skip this film. Lemmon plays an almost blind cartoonist who is getting progressively worse. He has a weird relationship with Barbara Harris's character. She was formerly married to Jason Robards. The movie is not funny though it is supposed to be a comedy. It didn't really have any point or redeeming feature. 3 out of 10.

I remember the time period when this movie came out. I never got to see the film at that time, which is too bad, because I liked the 1969 William Windom series, "My World, and Welcome To It." Both had roots in James Thurber, and both used live action and animation.

OK, so maybe this isn't Jack Lemmon's greatest movie. And I suppose it would not resonate with audiences in 21st century America. But you had to be there to really understand.

As it is, both Jack Lemmon and Lisa Gerritsen give great performances, and Jason Robards' appearance is always welcome. This is not a movie for everyone, but it is well worth a watch!!!

Very cute, with clever interweaving of cartoon and live action ( particularly for an older movie. Lemmon does an outstanding job, as does Gerritsen. Many endearing scenes, peppered with mostly good fun throughout.