The Worst Film Ever

Such a frustrating disappointment

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau star in this long and lame comedy about two old guys who get jobs as dance partners on a cruise ship. Each one finds love on the high seas.Lemmon plays the dope who gets tricked by brother-in-law Matthau into a cruise, not knowing they've been hired to squire old ladies around the dance floor. Could have been funny, but it goes under really fast.Lemmon meets a shy widow (Gloria DeHaven) and Matthau tries to snag a Texas heiress (Dyan Cannon) only to find out that she's also a fortune hunter. Tons of wasted talent here. Elaine Stritch plays Cannon's conniving mother, Hal Linden and Donald O'Connor play fellow dance partners, Rue McClanahan plays the cruise ship owner, Estelle Harris is one of the old ladies, Edward Mulhare plays a card cheater, and Brent Spiner gets way too much screen time as the ship's snarky entertainment director.The situations are unbelievable from the get-go. The film is 30 minutes too long in any case. No one outside of Lemmon, Matthau, Cannon, Spiner, and DeHaven get much to do, although Stritch breathes a little bit of life into this mess. Film would have been much better getting rid of Cannon (who comes off as a total zero) and teaming Stritch and Matthau.There's also a maudlin streak running through the film with Lemmon moping around because his wife died. Who wants to watch him sobbing at her picture in a frame? This was supposed to be a comedy! This one should have followed the Titanic to the bottom of the sea and taken director Martha Coolidge with it.

Out to Sea is perfectly acceptable daytime entertainment, but then again, when looking at the body of work Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau made together, it treads the line of unacceptable daytime entertainment. Lemmon and Matthau were unstoppable forces of hilarity and laughter in their 1968 screen debut in The Odd Couple and, despite playing rivals and not friends, were terrific as bitter codgers in the back-to-back Grumpy Old Men films. Out to Sea, on the other hand, plays like a screenplay that was meant for two relatively unknown elderly actors - not two established, renowned ones whose filmographies are littered with winners.Lemmon and Matthau star as Herb and Charlie, respectively. Charlie runs up a bill with the local bookie because of bets on horseracing and gets him and his friend Herb jobs as dancers aboard a luxury cruiseline. This is the last thing Herb wants and, particularly, it's the last thing Charlie want but this isn't the time for choices. Charlie needs money and Herb needs the company and the experience, despite not admitting it.Out to Sea would've likely been funnier had it taken a raunchier route, I believe. As is, the film feels like a safe, unrealistic, geriatric comedy with little depth of humor outside quirky incidents (which was the opposite of Lemmon and Matthau's comedic masterpiece The Odd Couple). However, when the conversational fluidity finds its way into this film, it becomes a tad more bearable. When Herb and Charlie engage in lively banter about relationships, age, and life itself is when the film evolves into more than acceptable entertainment.This is the reason my review of Out to Sea isn't the definition of mediocrity or a scathing one. The chemistry the two actors have on screen together mimics a long-lasting, inseparable friendship between two elderly friends that feels authentic. Combine that with occasional sparks of humor based on events rather than dialog, and you have a tolerable film that is akin to a mixed bag in cinema.Starring: Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Directed by: Martha Coolidge.

Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, both of whom are sadly missed, proved once again that they were a team dedicated to their craft of bringing hilarious moments to the screen. This film is just another example of this.This time out they play two brothers-in-law who land on a ship as dance instructors on board.Of course, their boss is a perfectionist and miserable person named Gil Godwin who just enjoys harassing these boys. It's hilarious how Lemmon gives a quick lesson in dancing to Matthau and how the latter dances a riotous rumba with the boat's owner Rue McLanahan.Too bad that fellow dance instructors Hal Linden and Donald O'Connor are given so little to do but their parts call for that. Matthau falls for Dyan Cannon, on board with her fellow gold-digging mother, the usual outrageous Elaine Stritch. Unknown to them, Matthau has no money either. The widower Lemmon falls for Gloria De Haven, looking lovelier than ever.The film belongs to Matthau and Lemmon and will serve as a further tribute to their illustrious careers.

Once again, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau team up as a pair of elderly grouches. "Out to Sea" is basically "The Odd Couple" and "Grumpy Old Men" set on a cruise ship, with the two guys trying to meet and defraud old widows. I personally think that they could have done without all the romance stuff and just had JL and WM get on each other's nerves. But don't get me wrong, there are some great lines (namely the one about shark-infested waters). Also starring Dyan Cannon, Gloria DeHaven, Brent Spiner, Elaine Stritch, Hal Linden and Donald O'Connor (in his final role).Oh, and in case Dyan Cannon is reading this: STOP GETTING FACELIFTS!!!!!!!!!!! YOU LOOK TERRIBLE WHEN YOU DO THAT!!!!!!!