The Odd Couple

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau didn't team up for the first time in The Odd Couple, but it's one of their most-famous collaborations...and certainly one of their funniest. Feminized Lemmon is the sad, neat-freak and alpha-male Matthau is the brash slob. Clash! This begat an unsatisfying sequel 30 years later and many TV series, but the 1968 film was a blockbuster and remains one of the most-beloved "oil and water" comedies ever. Neil Simon adapted his own Broadway hit, then went on to become a writing legend. Gene Saks directed this movie, which is stagy and (not surprisingly for a 55-year-old comedy) a little dated, but those flaws don't ruin this parade of yuks. So don't let everything we do irritate you, even if the Ellises are our very own Oscar and Felix. Just learn to live together and make the 511th rendition of Have You Ever Seen a tidy part of your day. Our sponsor remains Sparkplug Coffee. Go to "sparkplug.coffee/hyes" and you'll get a onetime 20% discount by using our "hyes" promo code. If you want to say something to us, there's email ([email protected]) and Twitter (@moviefiend51 and @bevellisellis). Like all of our 2023 efforts, this episode will be posted on YouTube sometime on Monday. And check out Ryan's chats with Chris Di Gregorio while you still can as we gab about sports flicks on "Scoring At The Movies".