I
grew up with the Tony Randall/Jack Klugman sitcom version of "The Odd Couple."
Everything about it is funny. Having seen for the first time the movie, I never
before imagined how smart Neil Simon could be. The movie outshines the TV series,
and is worth the space on any standard comedy DVD library shelf.
In
the TV series, Klugman's Oscar is a bohemian bachelor living in slop, and apparently
content. In the movie, Walter Matthau's Oscar is no neater, but five times as
deep. Although he lives in a divorced man's squalor of old cigars and warm beer,
he wants more. He's lonely for his wife and kids, and regrets not making his alimony
payments. His life is so disorganized that he wastes money by squandering cash
on dinners out and gambling.
When
Felix Ungar, as played by Jack Lemmon, Oscar's poker buddy, comes to stay when
his wife divorces him, lifestyles clash.
One
the surface, the clash is about organization and housekeeping. More deeply, Felix
and Oscar duel as Super Ego and ID. Consistently archetypal, they are, in a more
modern sense, like Marge and Homer Simpson, each seeing life through their limited
expressions. Felix is uptight, and forever second-guessing himself. Oscar is living
life for the moment, and never stopping to consider his responsibilities.
Oscar
cares about Felix more than their other poker buddies, and connects with him as
alter self, regarding their friendship worth pursuing. Since Felix needs a place
to stay, Oscar offers up his ample apartment. The conflicts arise soon after,
but not with each appreciating what the other brings to the relationship. Ironies
abound when Felix's hypersensitivities gain him the affection of two dimwitted
but attractive sisters, and Oscar's unbridled hormones.
Oscar
can't help but enjoy Felix's great cooking and cleaning habits. He eats better,
saves money, and finds his home is a nice a place to be when cigarette butts don't
litter the floor.
No
remake could collect such a cast. Matthau and Lemmon are known here as a duo on
par with any of the great matches, like Bogie and Bacall, Bing and Bob, or Abbott
and Costello. John Fiedler as the soft spoken family man, Vinnie, and Herb Edelman
as Murray the cop are casted primely. One reason "The Odd Couple II"
misses is this class cast. Matthau and Lemmon bring a lot to the table, but with
Murray and Vinnie (plus Monica Evans and Carole Shelley respectively as the giggly
sisters, Cecily and Gwendolyn Pigeon), anything made 30+ years later won't do.
Superbly
written, "The Odd Couple" is one of those comedies with intelligence.
Never does Neil Simon try to pan off one-liners. Even as Oscar tosses out slicing
one-phrased commentaries as swiftly as Grouch Marx, there is more than a quick
chuckle behind it. It is the myriad of layers, subtle commentary and sly interjections
that lift this script up an extra level, placing it as a classic.
Surprisingly
entertaining is the theme. It is the same them as in the TV series, but plays
in varied orchestrations throughout the movie's context. It was one of the great
TV themes, and to hear it extrapolated in several variations makes it so much
more enjoyable.
I
fully recommend "The Odd Couple."
Anthony
Trendl
•