THE ODD COUPLE

Opens up with a funny scene as suicidal Felix books a room in a hotel from the 9th floor and as he is ready to jump out of the window he hurts his back trying to open it as it's jammed. The movie is based on a play (Neil Simon) and that shows and it works especially well on screen. Matthau delivers the funniest lines and the two are just a perfect pair to team up (this was their second movie out of ten total). The scene where the girls from next door are invited for a dinner reminded me of a similar scene in one of my favorite movies, SWINGERS. I'm pretty sure Jon Favreau has seen this movie before writing it.


What more is there to say. Lemmon and Matthau are in perfect form as the obsessive cleaning Felix and the sloppy Oscar. A very funny movie. I recommend. There was a sequel made 30 years later but I hear that's not nearly as good as this one.


The funniest dialogue in the movie:


Matthau: When did you take these pills?
Lemmon: I don't know a couple hours ago.
Matthau: How many pills did you take?
Lemmon: I can't remember. A whole bottle.
Man#1: A whole bottle! My god! Somebody call an ambulance!
Matthau: We don't know what kind!
Man#1: What difference does it make?
Matthau: Well maybe they were vitamins! He could be the healthiest man in the room.



TV-show connection: One of the episodes of Friends starts with all the six humming a song in Central Perk that is played during the opening credits of THE ODD COUPLE. I never knew what song it was but now I know.