Jack Lemmon rescues this good comedy which shoulda been great > there are as many believable and funny scenes as there are unbelievable and just plain dumb scenes which should have hit the cutting room floor.
as a NJ-NYer from 1951 to 2009, I loved the location shots of New York in 1970 and the Director and EDitor know just how much time to spend on these classic backdrops.
of course, movie comedy is about exaggeration and we can go down of a list of "in reality, they could have easily....". but it's Neil Simon, probably the first American playwright who writes mostly based upon his own New York experiences and knows how to tickle the funnybone especially, of middle class easterners, earnest but constantly being kicked around; not as street savvy as they think they are.
I wrote above that Lemmon saves the project, as professional as it is, because, frankly, Sandy Dennis is uncharacteristically awful. And it's not her fault, I surmise > seems the Director does not know if she should just use her beautiful "English accent", throughout, or mix in some real Brooklynese. On the other hand, perhaps his concept of Mrs. Kellerman, is a kind of naïve, flaky kid, like Edith Bunker > always adoring - restrained but still capable of breaking out in a lecture, if needed.
another reason I chose a "6" rating is in the terrible denouement and finale scene. to use a contemporary expression to describe an old movie directorial/literary choice, "what were they thinking?".
good to see Meara and Billy Dee Williams, in early roles. (and all those 8 cylinder sedans!).
as a NJ-NYer from 1951 to 2009, I loved the location shots of New York in 1970 and the Director and EDitor know just how much time to spend on these classic backdrops.
of course, movie comedy is about exaggeration and we can go down of a list of "in reality, they could have easily....". but it's Neil Simon, probably the first American playwright who writes mostly based upon his own New York experiences and knows how to tickle the funnybone especially, of middle class easterners, earnest but constantly being kicked around; not as street savvy as they think they are.
I wrote above that Lemmon saves the project, as professional as it is, because, frankly, Sandy Dennis is uncharacteristically awful. And it's not her fault, I surmise > seems the Director does not know if she should just use her beautiful "English accent", throughout, or mix in some real Brooklynese. On the other hand, perhaps his concept of Mrs. Kellerman, is a kind of naïve, flaky kid, like Edith Bunker > always adoring - restrained but still capable of breaking out in a lecture, if needed.
another reason I chose a "6" rating is in the terrible denouement and finale scene. to use a contemporary expression to describe an old movie directorial/literary choice, "what were they thinking?".
good to see Meara and Billy Dee Williams, in early roles. (and all those 8 cylinder sedans!).