Grumpy Old Men

The Odd Couple are reunited to curious effect, since Lemmon has long since moved convincingly into dramatic parts, while Matthau has stayed pretty much where he was. They play elderly, feuding neighbours in small-town Wabasha, Minnesota. They've been insulting each other about their fish catch for five decades, when on to the scene arrives wacko teacher Ariel (Ann-Margret) to intensify their rivalry. Who gets the newcomer is as predictable as the outcome of a subplot romance between their respective children (Hannah and Pollak). It's a dawdling affair - apart from the outtakes at the end, which are funnier than anything in the picture itself - memorable chiefly for the Hanna-Barbera appearance of Matthau in a trapper's cap uttering lines like, 'The guy's straight as a grizzly's dick.' Also on hand is Burgess Meredith as an L-Dopa grandpa - 'Didya mount her?' - and Buck Henry as the flinty repo man. Mediocre, regrettably.