The Odd Couple (1968)

Felix and Oscar united in 1968 to create a comedic combination that propelled Jack Lemmon and Walter Mathau to be counted alongside Laurel & Hardy, The Three Stooges, Gene Wilder & Richard Pryor and Mel Brooks & Gene Wilder to name some of the best in the business. Based on a play by Neil Simon, they add pressure cooker intensity to comedy that has you sweating as you laugh.

The story revolves around two single men, one divorced and rich sports writer, Oscar Madison and the other a recently separated devoted family man, Felix Ungar, who come to live under the same roof when Oscar offers to take in Felix into his 7-bedroom apartment, because he has nowhere else to stay. But there is a problem. Felix is obsessively clean and Oscar, compulsively sloppy. Little do they realize that what could have been a guy’s dream bachelor pad turns into a marriage of a different kind.      

The film in setting stays close to a play. Most of the action takes place in Oscar’s apartment with very little outdoor footage. The claustrophobia felt by Oscar, brought about by the sultry New York weather and Felix’s obsessive cleaning frenzy is brought out superbly in Neil Simon’s screenplay and filmed with a lot of dexterity by Gene Saks, himself a great stage director. Like in all classic comedies, the laughs only serve to hide something deeper inside. Felix and Oscar are dear friends who are close. They are also lonely men, who look for company in each other, while reflecting on what went wrong in their marriages. While you laugh at their plight, you also feel for their situation.

The dynamic duo are at the peak of their powers. In a tribute to Lemmon at the AFI Lifetime Achievement Awards, Walter Mathau spoke of him as an actor who makes you see pain and suffering through the eyes of someone very close and familiar. Those words are resoundingly true as Felix shows pictures of his children and his ex-wife and breaks down, realizing the enormity of what has hit him. Walter Mathau plays the reactive role, with Lemmon taking charge with his histrionics. He masters the New York accent which pronounces first as ‘foist’ and his trademark deadpan responses and quippy one-liners are a perfect foil for Lemmon’s balderdash.

‘The Odd Couple’ is a landmark in comedy.