The Odd Couple

Name: The Odd Couple
Genre: Comedy
Released: May 16, 1968
Duration: 105 min
Rating: 86
Cast: Carole Shelley, David Sheiner, Herb Edelman, Iris Adrian, Jack Lemmon

1968

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Universal acclaim based on 10 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 11 Ratings

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8.1

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8.1	User Score Universal acclaim based on 11 Ratings

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The Odd Couple

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Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: May 16, 1968 | G

Starring: Carole Shelley, David Sheiner, Herb Edelman, Iris Adrian, Jack Lemmon, John Fiedler, Larry Haines, Matty Alou, Monica Evans, Walter Matthau

Summary: Two friends try sharing an apartment, but their ideas of housekeeping and lifestyles are as different as night and day.

Director: Gene Saks

Genre(s): Comedy

Rating: G

Runtime: 105 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Empire Kim Newman

Lemmon and Mathau's finest hour. Read full review

100

The Telegraph Martin Chilton

What makes the film so charming is the comic interplay between Matthau and Lemmon. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

The Odd Couple, Neil Simon's smash legit comedy, has been turned into an excellent film starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Simon's somewhat expanded screenplay retains the broad, as well as the poignant, laughs inherent in the rooming together of two men whose marriages are on the rocks. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Playwright Neil Simon occasionally takes off his clowns' masks to show the humans beneath. In doing so, he has made his Odd Couple real people, with enough substance to cast shadows alongside the jokes. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

Felix and Oscar are now part of the American mythos. Read full review

Dave Kehr

For all its overfamiliarity, this is a good play, easily Simon's best, and Matthau and Lemmon inhabit it with grace and style. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Saks takes Neil Simon's play pretty much as it comes, but with Lemmon and Matthau to watch, and a generous quota of one-liners, who needs direction? Read full review

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User Reviews

DawdlingPoet

Nov 24, 2021

This is a fairly amusing comedy film from the 1960s. It is perhaps a bit un PC or stereotyped these days, in that it covers the risk of suicide from a guy who's marriage has just broken down but the awkward comedy did appeal to me never the less. The humour is pretty juvenile in nature but IThis is a fairly amusing comedy film from the 1960s. It is perhaps a bit un PC or stereotyped these days, in that it covers the risk of suicide from a guy who's marriage has just broken down but the awkward comedy did appeal to me never the less. The humour is pretty juvenile in nature but I didn't mind that too much. There's plenty of fast paced dialogue and some fairly memorable moments. The men are somewhat curmudgeonly and the ladies (well, some of them) somewhat 'dolly bird'-ish but I enjoyed the film and thought it was entertaining never the less. I wouldn't like to make fun of someone who was recently divorced but the comedy does come from other plot details - mainly the fact the 2 men have to share the same flat/apartment. The situations they find themselves in and how they defend their actions made me chuckle quite a bit. This isn't what I'd call a great film but its certainly good enough to be worth a watch - it has a bit of a farce type feel to it and I wasn't surprised its based on a play (by Neil Simon), as I did think it came across as a film that would be easy to stage as a play or theatrical production.… Expand

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Compi24

Feb 21, 2021

Based on Neil Simon's 1965 play of the same name, Gene Saks's adaptation of "The Odd Couple" features a characteristically amusing pair of performances in the form of Jack Lemmon as Felix Ungar and Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison. However, beyond a few smile-inducing exchanges and a coupleBased on Neil Simon's 1965 play of the same name, Gene Saks's adaptation of "The Odd Couple" features a characteristically amusing pair of performances in the form of Jack Lemmon as Felix Ungar and Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison. However, beyond a few smile-inducing exchanges and a couple of clever sight gags, I just simply didn't find this to be all that funny. This isn't to say that the material at hand is chock-full of swings and misses or offensive subject matter or anything. I guess what I'm saying is, no one told me that this was more of a dramedy than a straight-up, straight-laced comedy. Indeed, Lemmon and Matthau are fun to watch together, with their onscreen chemistry comprising the key factor of enjoyment for me. There's just not really that much else here for my comedic tastes. Killer theme song, though.… Expand

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