Neil Simon's The Odd Couple II (1998) Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, Barnard Hughes, Christine Baranski, Jonathan Silverman, Lisa Waltz, Jean Smart. Directed by Howard Deutch. 95 minutes.
PG-13, 1.5 stars (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo-online.com/film/ Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Edward+Johnson-ott
You should have heard the old guys in the crowded bathroom following the "Odd Couple II" sneak preview. They were as happy a group of men as I've ever encountered. "What a great movie," exclaimed one gent at the urinal, "Everything was so true!" "Yeah," laughed a man standing next to him, "I drive as slow as that one guy did. My kids give me holy hell for it!" "And peeing is a big part of my day, just like with Felix," chuckled another fellow, as he fastened his trousers up around his nipples and prepared to rejoin his wife.
If you're over 60 and in the habit of driving at least 20 miles per hour below the posted speed limit, "Neil Simon's The Odd Couple II" may be just the film for you. Others will likely be less charitable. While "The Odd Couple II" is amiable enough, Neil Simon's shockingly lazy screenplay feels like a slapped-together TV reunion show, suffering from wheezing situation comedy set-ups and jokes straight out of the Borscht-belt. Simon, once the toast of Broadway, has apparently shifted his sights from the Great White Way to the neighborhood multiplex in Branson, Missouri.
The contrived story, involving the marriage of their kids, provides the excuse for a reunion between Oscar Madison and Felix Unger, who haven't seen each other in 17 years. The former roommates fly into California from their respective homes for the wedding and, quite literally, run into one another at the airport. They take off in a rental car for the ceremony in San Molina, get lost and have a series of "wacky" adventures on the road.
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau reprise their roles as Felix the neat freak and Oscar the slob. While there is an undeniable chemistry between the pair, the impact of their reunion is lessened by the fact that they've headlined three films together since 1993: "Grumpy Old Men," "Grumpier Old Men" and "Out To Sea." Still, the two veteran actors are fun to watch.
Matthau, whose magnificently rumpled face looks like a big pile of laundry with eyes, has a field day as Oscar, the crown prince of the curmudgeons. Lemmon, looking pastier than usual, is fine as the ever- annoying Felix, who still punctuates his chronic whining with occasional allergic honks of "Phnah! Phnah!" Despite their bickering, the characters have real affection for each other, providing a welcome respite from the non-stop barrage of insults that marked their previous three films together.
Unfortunately, Matthau and Lemmon's charm isn't enough to compensate for Simon's hack script, which wouldn't pass muster even on a UPN sitcom. One contrived situation follows another, lathered with enough stale one- liners to supply a dozen would-be comics on open-mike night at the local comedy club.
If someone drags you to this film and you find yourself as bored as I was, try entertaining yourself by counting the product placements. Burger King gets one, as does the El Pollo Loco taco joint, but Budget Rent-A- Car really hits the jackpot. Between script references to their business and shots of signs and stickers bearing their company name, I couldn't keep count of all the plugs. I did, however, keep track of some of the swearing. I came up with four "God-damns," three "shitheads" and two "fucks." The inclusion of those particular profanities seemed odd for a film aimed at an older audience, but the theater full of seniors appeared to have no problem with them, howling like crazy every time the boys let rip with a naughty word.
It's sad that a writer of Neil Simon's stature has grown desperate enough to resort to swearing for cheap laughs, but not surprising when you look at what else gets passed off as humor in this tepid exercise. One running gag involves Oscar and Felix's inability to remember the name of the town where the wedding is to be held. At one point, the men actually spend 30 seconds just free-associating, riffing off variants of the word "San." The sequence is so creatively bankrupt that it is simply embarrassing.
One of the oldest maxims of film-going is "Beware of movies that use the author's name in the title." "Neil Simon's The Odd Couple II" is no exception to the rule. While the production has enough minor pleasures to warrant a TV viewing on some lazy Sunday afternoon, it has no business playing in a movie theater. Of course, there's a bathroom full of old guys who would strongly disagree with every word I've written, and would probably whip my "young-whippersnapper" ass to boot. One thing's for sure, though. They'll never catch me in a car chase.
Copyright 1998, Ed Johnson-Ott
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