SimonJack "Out to Sea" is the last of nine comedy films that Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau made together. The two Oscar winners and senior stars had given us some funny and entertaining films over the years. Besides their comedy, each had a distinguished film career that included dramas, action films and mystery-thrillers. Matthau lived just three more years and died July 1, 2000, at age 79. Lemmon would live just four more years, and died June 27, 2001, at age 76. In this 1997 film, the boys are in their usual form. They have slowed down some but still appear to be chipper. They are a couple of retired codgers. Lemmon plays Herb Sullivan and Matthau is Charlie Gordon. They are brothers-in-law. Charlie's never been married and Herb, who wed Charlie's sister, has been a widower for a year or so.This film has some prominent actors in supporting roles, and these add to the humor. Dyan Cannon, Gloria DeHaven, Elaine Stritch, Hal Linden and Donald O'Connor all are good for laughs. Brent Spiner plays the stars' nemesis. He's Gil Godwyn, cruise director.The plot is far-fetched, and that makes it even funnier. The cast seemed to be having a ball making this film. It isn't on the level of the earlier Lemmon-Matthau comedies, but it's still an entertaining film that's sure to arouse many laughs. It's a good adult film to enjoy, especially for middle aged and older folks. Few in younger audiences are apt to enjoy or appreciate old-fashioned humor, especially among the older set.Here are a couple samples of humor in the dialog. Gil, "No, you listen to me. I'm your worst nightmare. A song and dance man raised on a military base. Dismissed!" Herb, "I'll bet his father was cruise director on the Bismarck."Herb, to Charlie, "You're crazy. Years of insanity have made you crazy."

John Panagopoulos "Out to Sea" (hereafter "OTS") is basically a melding of "Grumpy Old Men" (or "The Odd Couple", take your pick) with a typical "Love Boat" episode. Before you groan and decide this is something you might want to skip, I wish to assure you that comic and acting (and sadly, now departed) legends Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon effortlessly turn on the smooth, wacky, exasperated, and cunning charm to make OTS a laugh-filled, satisfying, if somewhat predictable romp.The frantic fun begins when Matthau's character Charlie Gordon, a shifty gambler in hock with several bookies and loan sharks, persuades his despondent, widowed brother-in-law Herb Sullivan (Lemmon) to take a cruise with him on-board the Holland America liner Westerdam presumably to cheer him up. When Herb protests that neither of them can afford a cruise, Charlie assures him that he managed to wrangle free tickets. Herb grudgingly agrees.Of course there's a catch. Only after they board the ship does Charlie inform Herb that in exchange for the free room and board, they must serve as dancing partners and escorts for "unattached" women passengers. Though Herb is understandably agitated with Charlie for this con, he figures he and Charlie can make the best of it. After all, cruises have all sorts of amenities and benefits, and the Central America/Mexico itinerary is enticing. Besides, Herb is a good dancer. But, of course, there are other catches.One, while Herb can trip the light fantastic, Charlie can't. In fact, Charlie has all the dancing grace of the Scarecrow from "The Wizard of Oz". Two, their boss is the despotic, brown-nosing, and smugly irritating martinet Gil Godwin (Brent Spiner, in a role as diametrically opposite to his unemotional, rational role as Data the android from "Star Trek – The Next Generation" as a role can be). Gil is the cruise director from hell with a soul of a drill instructor. He warns all the dance partners that dancing is as far as it goes with the women passengers. Any kind of relationship, even the most casual, is strictly forbidden. Naturally, Gil keeps a haughty eye on Herb and Charlie – especially Charlie, who spends much of the movie shirking his dancing duties and dodging and disobeying Gil's edicts.And so "OTS" launches into a comedy of deception, mistaken identity, and screwball antics. Besides avoiding Gil, Charlie keeps busy by playing poker against the snobbish, wealthy card expert Cullen Carswell and doggedly wooing the apparently glamorous, well-to-do Liz LaBreche (a still stunning Dyan Cannon), traveling with her ornery, cantankerous mother Mavis (Elaine Stritch) who wants her to marry someone worthy of her social station and who instantly disapproves of Charlie. Meanwhile, the more subdued Herb finds his own romantic interaction with Vivian (Gloria DeHaven), a fetching widow traveling with her grown daughter and son-in-law. They are mutually attracted to each other. Problem is, Vivian, through Charlie's interference, believes Herb is a doctor. Herb is actually a retired Gimbel's sales clerk, but is afraid to tell Vivian the truth because he doesn't want to disappoint her. Besides, Herb still stubbornly yearns for his deceased wife of 46 years, Susie.Again, the plot is straight out of any "Love Boat" episode, but Matthau and Lemmon are consummate, confident pros who can squeeze laughs out of the most outlandish doings. Through both physical slapstick and quick and sharp dialogue, Matthau and Lemmon seem to be having a ball in "OTS" and therefore let us have fun, too. And yet, good comedies always have a core of emotion and pathos. Both Matthau and Lemmon have it in "OTS" and so we hope that they can rise above the sticky deceptions and white lies they have built and find love and fulfillment. Do they? Well, think about any "Love Boat" episode and how it turns out that Herb and Charlie aren't the only ones harboring secrets in the movie, not least Gil and his shameless flattering of ship owner Ellen Carruthers (Rue McClanahan) in order to secure a promotion, and rest assured that poetic justice comes into play.P.S.: Although I have been on several cruises with several cruise lines, including Holland America, I have never been on the Westerdam. OTS showcases the ship well and I'm sure Holland America was grateful for the publicity. I would love to take a trip on the Westerdam someday.

Steve Pulaski Out to Sea is perfectly acceptable daytime entertainment, but then again, when looking at the body of work Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau made together, it treads the line of unacceptable daytime entertainment. Lemmon and Matthau were unstoppable forces of hilarity and laughter in their 1968 screen debut in The Odd Couple and, despite playing rivals and not friends, were terrific as bitter codgers in the back-to-back Grumpy Old Men films. Out to Sea, on the other hand, plays like a screenplay that was meant for two relatively unknown elderly actors - not two established, renowned ones whose filmographies are littered with winners.Lemmon and Matthau star as Herb and Charlie, respectively. Charlie runs up a bill with the local bookie because of bets on horseracing and gets him and his friend Herb jobs as dancers aboard a luxury cruiseline. This is the last thing Herb wants and, particularly, it's the last thing Charlie want but this isn't the time for choices. Charlie needs money and Herb needs the company and the experience, despite not admitting it.Out to Sea would've likely been funnier had it taken a raunchier route, I believe. As is, the film feels like a safe, unrealistic, geriatric comedy with little depth of humor outside quirky incidents (which was the opposite of Lemmon and Matthau's comedic masterpiece The Odd Couple). However, when the conversational fluidity finds its way into this film, it becomes a tad more bearable. When Herb and Charlie engage in lively banter about relationships, age, and life itself is when the film evolves into more than acceptable entertainment.This is the reason my review of Out to Sea isn't the definition of mediocrity or a scathing one. The chemistry the two actors have on screen together mimics a long-lasting, inseparable friendship between two elderly friends that feels authentic. Combine that with occasional sparks of humor based on events rather than dialog, and you have a tolerable film that is akin to a mixed bag in cinema.Starring: Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Directed by: Martha Coolidge.

Lee Eisenberg Once again, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau team up as a pair of elderly grouches. "Out to Sea" is basically "The Odd Couple" and "Grumpy Old Men" set on a cruise ship, with the two guys trying to meet and defraud old widows. I personally think that they could have done without all the romance stuff and just had JL and WM get on each other's nerves. But don't get me wrong, there are some great lines (namely the one about shark-infested waters). Also starring Dyan Cannon, Gloria DeHaven, Brent Spiner, Elaine Stritch, Hal Linden and Donald O'Connor (in his final role).Oh, and in case Dyan Cannon is reading this: STOP GETTING FACELIFTS!!!!!!!!!!! YOU LOOK TERRIBLE WHEN YOU DO THAT!!!!!!!