THE ODD COUPLE

REVIEWED BY CAITIE BROOKE

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: sensuality, language

Rated:

Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau) is in for the time of his life. He has invited clean freak and in-the-process-of-being divorced Felix Ungar (Jack Lemmon) to live in his apartment. Felix had been married for 12 years and has had 2 kids; now that his wife has kicked him out of their home he is very depressed. Days later Oscar's once nasty, cluttered apartment is clean as it can get. Felix is constantly spraying sanitizers and cleaners in the house. During late nights a group of guys would get together to play poker at Oscar's apartment. Now they can't stand the cleanliness and have put off the game for a while. Oscar tries to get Felix interested in girls. Finally he persuades Felix to agree to a dinner date with two single women, the Pigeon Sisters. He reluctantly agrees.

The night of the supper Felix is really getting stressed. Oscar comes home late and Felix cannot understand why he could not have called, not to mention the meatloaf is getting tough. Once the sisters arrive Oscar goes to make some drinks while Felix and the girls get acquainted. Felix begins to tell the Pigeon Sisters his sad story and begins to cry. The sisters tell their reasons for being single and they begin to cry. Oscar comes back with drinks and reminds Felix of his meatloaf, which is now uneatable. Cecily and Gwendolyn (the Pigeon Sisters) invite the two men over for dinner at their two-bedroom apartment. Oscar is thrilled about the idea but Felix won't go and this spoils the whole evening.

A day or so later Oscar finally blows his top with Felix. He tells Felix that he cannot stand his cleanliness any longer. He also tells him to keep in his own room. More fussing between the two goes on and Felix packs some of his belongings and leaves. Days go by and Oscar's poker party friends begin to play at his apartment again but they have concerns of where Felix is. They go for a drive and come back to the apartment with no hope of finding Felix. One of the Pigeon Sisters comes to Oscar's apartment to collect the rest of Felix's things. She tells them that he is moving in with the them. I kept hoping that Felix and his wife would decide not to get a divorce. However this did not happen. This un-happy ending was very objectionable. You get the idea that Felix and the Pigeon Sisters will be together intimately. 

The Odd Couple had quiet a bit of language such as d-mn, hell, ad the use of the Lord's name in vain. These words were used constantly throughout the movie. A remark is made by Oscar to a waitress of "I'd like to get you behind a counter for 5 minutes." A joke is made by one of Oscar's friends to stop having an affair with his wife. The viewer might get the idea that Oscar has had many affairs with women. You also get the idea that the Pigeon Sisters have had affairs with men without being married to them. In the Bible we are told to stay pure, 1 Timothy 5:22. These comments made in The Odd Couple about affairs were totally unnecessary.  After Felix leaves his temporary hotel room (at the beginning of the movie) he goes into a men's nightclub. Several women are dressed in a two-piece set which is extremely revealing and suggestive. Throughout this scene they are also on stage dancing. I do not have to say that this was offensive. If you are going to view this movie I would suggest that you skip this entire scene. It is pointless. The Odd Couple had a lot of humor and a ton of laughs but I cannot recommend it. Even if you are going to view this movie it is not appropriate for children.