It Could Not Be Better
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perrymehta1 — 19 years ago(June 14, 2006 06:46 PM)
THE MOVIE IS PERFECT EXCEPT FOR ONE SMALL THING:
THE SCENE WHERE THERE PLAYING POKER:
MURRAY: HOW MANY CARDS U GOT 4?
SPEED: YES MURRAY WE ALL HAVE FOR CARDS IF U GAVE US ONE MORE WE'D ALL HAVE 5 IF U GAVE US 2 MORE WE'D ALL HAVE 6. U UNDERSTAND HOW IT WORKS NOW?
IT SHOULD'VE BEEN 7 NOT 6. THE MOVIE IS GOOD EXCEPT FOR THAT ONE MINOR THING!!!!!!!!!!!
CAN'T BELIEVE NO ONE NOTICED THAT!!!!!!!!! -
rivieran — 17 years ago(April 22, 2008 03:19 PM)
It Could Not Be Better
posted by kevincahill2002 (Sun Mar 28 2004 19:06:00)
This is, without a doubt, one of my favourite films. It is perfect in every way.
The casting is supurb (although originally Lemmon and Matthau were to have played each others roles..imagine that Lemmon as Oscar).
The script is immaculate. The timing of the lines is perfect.
The supporting cast are breathtakingly original and fresh.
Direction is invisible and the music just unforgettable.
I agree with everything you posted. I'm watching
The Odd Couple
now, on TCM, for probably the tenth or fifteenth time in my life, and it still makes me LOL. Neal Hefti's music still gives me goose bumps. And name for me another film that has such a perfect supporting cast.
I would like to add that the set design and decoration are also perfect, and the camera work, especially as the actors move throughout the apartment, is amazing.
The location filming is excellent; it makes me want to time-trip back to visit 1967 NYC, warts and all.
I love Jack Lemmon in just about everything he's done, and of course he's undeniably spectacular here, but to me Matthau supremely kills in this one. His every line is perfectly said. He's so real and funny. Stunningly Hilarious.
I can't believe he wasn't nominated for the Best Actor "Oscar" (ha). Of course they both should have been. -
ecarle — 17 years ago(May 11, 2008 09:00 PM)
Two things:
- I saw it first run in a packed movie theater in 1968. Most of the time, you couldn't hear some of the lines for all the laughter.
People were pretty much choking to death during the scene where Felix is clearing his head in the restaurant like a bull moose while Oscar makes great deadpan facial expressions of embarrassment (hey, isn't this Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan in the "restaurant orgasm" scene from "Harry/Sally" 20 years early?)
And the bit where, during their "silent war," Lemmon keeps tugging on the vacuum cleaner cord while Matthau's foot is on it. You KNEW what was going to happen. And when Matthau released his footroars of a laughter. I mean for like two minutes after the gag started, even with Lemmon unseen in the kitchen.
A great time at the movies. And remember: outside the theater that year, 1968 was a year of horror (RFK and King assassinated; Vietnam; riots.) Everybody wanted to laugh. There's a reason that a movie about two middle-aged men was one of the biggest hits of that youthful year. - They sold a soundtrack album for "The Odd Couple." It featured Neal Hefti's classic pop-jazz theme (how much richer and fuller and SADDER it is than the tinny version done for the TV show), other musical interludes from the moviebut was interspersed with dialogue tracks FROM the movie, about five of them. ("It took me three hours to figure out that FU meant Felix Unger!") Unfortunately, they put a laugh track on those pieces on the record. But they were funny, and I memorized them. That's where I learned about the great timing of Lemmon and Matthau ("I thought the gravy justcomes!" "You ignorant ignoramusgravy.. doesn'tjust..COME!")
I don't have the album any more. Damn.
- I saw it first run in a packed movie theater in 1968. Most of the time, you couldn't hear some of the lines for all the laughter.
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hafabee — 17 years ago(September 04, 2008 11:43 PM)
I agree, it's an amazing movie. I can't express just how much this film cracked me up! For something that's 40 years old now I'm surprised at just how hilarious this is
; it's stood the test of time very well. -
colbhoy — 17 years ago(October 18, 2008 07:34 AM)
I sat one Saturday afternoon a few years ago and watched this film on TV. I had heard of it, possibly even caught little bits of it before but had never seen it. What a film, pretty perfect in every way. When I invested in a DVD player, it was one of the first movies that I bought.
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RobHama — 16 years ago(November 17, 2009 04:35 PM)
Agreed. This is chemistry in its most quintessential form; And I'm not just refering Lemon's and Matthau's back and fourth, but every aspect of the movie. It's ridiculously well balanced, to the point of perfection.
Now I'm not going to be completely bias and overcome over how much I like this flick and rant about how every stand alone aspect of this movie has yet to met its equal, because - let's be fair here - the main ingrediants are the terrific writing and acting; But in so many other movies that have had the same attributes going for them, some parts of the production usually comes up short. Not in this beauty, from the cinematography to the imagery to the score, everything carries the script and actors in the most effective way possible.
That's what I love about this flick, it's all perfectly in sync, turning the result into a single entity, not just different components assembled to their extent.
That, and the fact that it kicks the proverbial ass.
On that note I have to be a douchebag and bring up the rating. We all know that there are thousands variables to the ratings on imdb, and that it implies a grain of salt in any situation. But since is this movie, I'm going to have to be thickheaded and redudant; "Only 7.7? what the hell!!" -
goopah — 11 years ago(November 29, 2014 05:44 PM)
Actually, on IMDb, 7.7 is a pretty damn good rating, though I myself would rate it close to a 10.
Some of my favorite films have only rated 5.9 to 6.8, and those are not even considered bad scores here. Only when you drop below a 5.0 do I consider it to be a questionable film. And even some of those have been okay.
In other words, I don't put much stock in the scores here, or anywhere else for that matter. This would be a perfect case in point.
But anyway, yeah, great film. I was just reading some of the lines, hjaving not actually seen the film in years, and yet just reading the lines, and picturing the actors saying them, was enough to crack me up big time. A real classic for sure.