Very Cool!!!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is a classic example of a film being produced simply because of the names involved. The plot is a weak attempt to make a Billy Wilder comedy in the eighties. I can almost hear how this was pitched to studio executives; "It's the Odd Couple meets Porky's"! Look, anytime the script invokes the clichéd name of Kowalski (always a cop, soldier, or construction worker)for a subplot character, you know the film is in trouble. This thing proves that without an original and inspired story, it's just a waste of truly great talent. This is the only film by Lemmon, Matthau, and/or Wilder that I cannot recommend. The only reason is gets more than a vote of "1" is that I reserve that number for the truly complete pieces of garbage, such as "Battlefield: Earth", "Ishtar", and "Can't Stop The Music".

For what turned out to be his final film, Billy Wilder decided to adapt the French black comedy L'Emmerdeur to America and he and his writing partner I.A.L. Diamond came up with Buddy Buddy. As it turned out I saw this film back to back with Wilder's Kiss Me Stupid. In that one, a whole lot of talented actors couldn't raise it above mediocrity. But in watching Buddy Buddy I failed to see why this one was slammed as bad as it was. It's not anything close to what Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau did in The Fortune Cookie or even in the remake of The Front Page. Still Buddy Buddy does have its moments.Of course the film does hinge on the incomparable chemistry between Lemmon and Matthau and they save the film essentially for Wilder. They are two total strangers whom chance throws together at a most inopportune moment.Matthau is a professional hit-man who's been given the job of killing three stoolies who are to testify at a mob trial. He's got the first two and has a plan set for number three.Then of course he meets Lemmon who is despondent over his wife leaving him for a fake sex therapist. He checks into the same hotel in the room next to Matthau who is readying his hit and tries to commit suicide. For the rest of the film Matthau is forced to take an interest in this schnook's marital problems to keep from committing suicide and bringing a swarm of police to the hotel. Matthau and Lemmon get into some pretty funny situation as there seems to be no end in sight to what can go wrong with a well thought out plan. Lemmon's wife is played by Paula Prentiss and their marriage seems very much modeled on the one Lemmon had in The Fortune Cookie. Things work out just about the same way for the unhappy couple.Things kind of work out for Matthau too in a rather unbelievable way for which you will have to see Buddy Buddy. And while it's not like some of the great Wilder classics of the Fifties when Billy was at his creative best, it's far from the worst film he could have gone out on.

This was Billy Wilder's last film. The movie stars Walter Matthau as a hit man who quickly gets p***ed with Jack Lemmon who keeps bothering him with his problems. Matthau just wants to finish his job and Lemmon won't let him. There is hardly anything funny in here expect for a couple of small laughs. You should watch The Fortune Cookie instead.

A dreary comedy with some isolated amusing moments. The ingredients for a potentially funny film are here, but most of the laughs just never materialize. The actors try their best (although Jack Lemmon is often somewhat one-note), but it's the flat, uninspired direction that keeps this from taking off. (**)