The Odd Couple I &Ii: The Original Screenplays

Brilliantly paced writing that was brought to full fruition by the Lemmon/Matthau team in 1968, though I would have loved to have seen Art Carney's "Felix".The third reel is weak mostly in comparison to the gargantuan strength of the first two. If I am not mistaken, Neil Simon himself has said as much. The film is superior to the play ( an amazing feat of adaptation). Personally, I have no use for the sequel. Nor would I have welcomed "Mona Lisa II - If you thought La Giaconda was enigmatic - Just Wait!" When art is perfect, leave it alone. As an aside, Comic Chemistry's review displays perhaps the most pretentious writing I have ever seen. Don't let that stop you from enjoying the screenplay, and above all, the original film.

When you read something by Neil Simon, especially these two great installments, don't expect for the material to solve any problems or make you see the state of world differently. To me, that's simply not what Simon's work is all about. When you watch two movies like The Odd Couple and it's sequel, I think the main thing you need to do is laugh - and with these two you'll do plenty of that. The comedy translates very well from the page to the stage and/or screen - but one of the main things that makes something like The Odd Couple work is the chemistry between the actors - namely Jack Lemmon or Walter Matthau. While the first Odd Couple grew claustrophobic inside Oscar's apartment, the second covers road trip territory and sends the two characters out into the world. Although the first was a product of the mid-60s, it didn't display the counter-culture revolutionary feel, and even though the sequel was written in the mid-90s it doens't retain the crass indulgences brought on by many writers of the times. These two works are very innocent in what they convey, and the comedy is light and broad, yet sometimes retaining a darker, more succint feel to it. These are scripts about friends and friendships and male-bonding - and they succeed in making us laugh and loving the characters we're presented with.