LilyDaleLady And how many times has it been made and remade? I'm probably more familiar overall with the TV series version, with Jack Krugman and Tony Randall, which by necessity had to broaden the story and pump up the minor supporting characters. There's even 1-2 FEMALE versions.But the original has more lives than a cat -- several FILM versions, plus countless stage productions since the 1960s.I've never completely got what is supposedly so funny about it, except some universal battle between sloppy folks and neat freaks.Just caught some of it on late-night TV, and one thing -- nit picky, but it drove me nuts (my inner Felix Ungar?) -- is when Felix is cooking dinner for Oscar and two ditsy Pidgeon sisters.The whole thing is predicated on Oscar coming home "late" -- by about 30 minutes -- and Felix's meatloaf is "ruined". In fact, we see it later as a flaming charcoal briquette....why not turn the heat OFF?This is the kind of departure from reality that makes me crazy in films. Meatloaf is about the easiest, most relaxed food on earth. It keeps for HOURS -- even DAYS -- once cooked, you can eat it COLD (it's delicious -- try it some time!). You can cook it and reheat it, and if anything, the flavor is even better having mellowed.There is no way, not even for a nut like Felix, that a meatloaf would have to be served instantly or "go bad". For starters: after cooking, the meat must "rest" for 20 minutes or so.On top of that: when he goes shopping....and the whole premise is they are eating at home to "save money"...Felix goes to the butcher and orders FOUR POUNDS of freshly ground beef. Good lordy! Neil Simon clearly never cooked a meatloaf in his life, nor even bothered to look up a recipe! FOUR POUNDS! that would make enough meatloaf for a dozen people, with leftovers.Meatloaf is a classic Depression-era recipe intended to STRETCH a very small amount of ground meat - with fillers, bread crumbs, chopped veggies, beaten eggs, etc. -- so that a pound of meat or LESS could feed a family. A meatloaf that was "all beef" would be greasy, heavy and terrible.It makes no sense for two "broke bachelor's" trying to save money on a dinner date, to buy FOUR POUNDS of ground beef (even at 1967 prices). Even considering how eccentric Felix is - - how OCD -- the way he's cooking this, and acting like a meatloaf is a fragile soufflé, just makes zero sense.NOTE: as a broke young woman years ago, I used to be able to concoct a full sized -- and delicious! -- meatloaf from one scant HALF POUND of ground beef, bolstered with a lot of add-ins like bread crumbs and beaten egg, and a few secret ingredients. I will happily supply that recipe -- Lily"s Famous Meatloaf" on request to anyone interested!

grantss Felix's (Jack Lemmon) wife has left him and he is contemplating suicide. His friends sense his depression and one of them, Oscar (Walter Matthau), volunteers to take him in until he is fine again. The two of them are like chalk and cheese - Oscar is fun-loving, gregarious and slovenly, Felix is a shy, stay-at-home, obsessive- compulsive neat-freak. Being around Oscar brightens Felix up, but he quickly starts to irritate Oscar...Adapted by Neil Simon from a play he wrote, a movie that perfectly captures one of cinemas most enduring and prolific comedy duos - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Though not their first movie together - that honour belongs to Billy Wilder's The Fortune Cookie from 1966 - this is the movie that ensured there'd be more Lemmon- Matthau collaborations. Both are in fine form here, and are perfectly cast for their roles. Wonderful delivery and sense of timing on both their parts.Great script too. The dialogue is snappy and very funny, with some great one-liners. Some great sight gags too.A comedy classic.

Yoko Asari Aimiaya The majority of this film was able to capture its comedy very well. The pacing was a bit slow at times, but the comedic banter between the two leads was enough to make this movie a very positive and fulfilling experience. HOWEVER (and this is a very big "however") this ending was very unsatisfying. I knew that it would be, mostly because there could never be an ending that would please everyone with a concept such as this. However, I felt that the overall experience was dampened simply because of its lackluster finale. The movie itself isn't flawed. It instead was the idea that simply wrote itself into a corner. The acting in this film is very good. I enjoyed many of the comedic bits not only between the two leads, but also when their friends were involved in the conversation. I know a movie is very good at getting its point across when it is able to make the audience uncomfortable WILLINGLY. It does this a few times. The overall feeling that one will receive after viewing it, however, is not the awkward unfamiliarity that is portrayed by the characters, but instead a very sour taste from how fast and unsatisfying the ending comes. Instead of a usual resolution, it seems to plummet back to where it started. This could be seen by some as a refreshing change from usual movies that follow similar story arcs. This is not the case for this movie, however, since it leaves you thinking that it could have ended better. Everything leading to the climax is stellar, but the overall ending is an experience that doesn't seem to fit the rest of its charm.

LeonLouisRicci A Transcending Comedy Written by Neil Simon from His Long Running Play. The Movie Spun-Off the Popular TV Show. So from Hit Play to Hit Movie to Hit TV Show. It is Testament to the Enduring Nature of this Popular Culture Icon that Entertained so Many for so Long.Nothing Hardly Changed in this Trifecta. Sure the Casting Changed but not the Characters, it is Felix and Oscar that Find the Funny Bone and Tickle it Aplenty. In the Movie it is Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon who Become the Title Characters and even though the Camera Hardly Moves and the Setting of Oscar's Apartment Hardly Changes, the Film Exudes Charm from the Likable Mismatch.They get Steaming Mad at One Another but it Never Really Seems Serious (although it gets mighty close sometimes), Their Humanity is Hardly Absent in the Verbal Sparring and is Rarely Far from View as Things Change on a Dime and these Best Friends Stay Best Friends through Burnt Meatloaf and Little Rings on the Table. The Film is Densely Dialoged with Rapid Fire Exchanges and One Liners Galore with Never a Dull Moment. Matthau and Lemmon Made Ten Films Together. This is One of the Best. Barely Dated and Void of Vulgarity (unless you count linguini's splattered on the wall vulgar), this is One for the Ages and One for All Ages.