Dreadfully Boring

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

The sound of a trumpet played by a pro is rich, vibrant, and beautiful. The sound of the trumpet's mouthpiece, no matter who's playing it, sounds like a... raspberry. That's exactly what this film, the sequel to the classic THE ODD COUPLE, is. Plot has Felix Unger (Lemmon) and Oscar Madison (Matthau) on a car trip to the wedding of Oscar's son and Felix's wife.Neil Simon throws in every road-comedy cliché and then some: basically TRAINS, PLANES AND AUTOMOBILES without the humor. But the main problem is, Felix isn't really a futz and Oscar isn't really a slob... or maybe we just can't tell because they're on the road overcoming "obstacles" instead of living together so that their differences stand out. Thus the duo is hardly at odds because they're in the same boat (car) and have to rely on each other: killing the premise of not getting along because of contrasting personalities. This catastrophe... possibly the worst sequel ever conceived... should have never seen the light of day. And unnecessary: GRUMPY OLD MEN was great enough to quench our Matthau/Lemmon thirsts, forever. (Cultfilmfreaks.com)

After the success they had had with 'Grumpy/Grumpier old men' it wasn't surprising really that someone would try to bring back Matthau and Lemmon as their most famous characters, Oscar and Felix. That doesn't however mean they should have! It's a decent enough premise and the scene in the airport is great, but apart from that it really feels like an excuse just to put these two comic legends together again. The story is largely irrelevant, we just like seeing them spar off each other.Simon's script has all the zingers of old, but there just isn't enough to hold the whole thing together. There is an air of pointlessness about the whole film.If you love Matthau and Lemmon then watch this film, however if you want to see them at their best, watch the original 'Odd Couple'.

When a film's first sequel isn't made until thirty years after its original, one can faintly assume the project was a brainchild of desperate executes and equally desperate actors, both of whom in dire need of a paycheck. The Odd Couple II has "profit margin" and "modern comedy" written all over it, and plays drastically different instruments than the Gene Saks' film I regarded as "a masterwork of comedic timing and actors showcasing their energy and talents on screen." That film focuses its sites entirely on leisurely-paced, rather than the breathless array of antics and screwball comedy that many comedies of the time used.So, what would you expect a sequel to the original Odd Couple film made in 1998 focus mostly on? As did I, sight-gags, comedy based on the inanity of events, and louder, broader instances of trouble rather than the quietly reserved humor based on dialog and setting that existed in the first film. To my surprise, however, was how much I liked The Odd Couple II. It's the definition of slight, doesn't do much in regards to a long-term impact, and it will certainly not be held by me as any masterwork. But as a final showcase of two amazing screen talents and the equivalent of a cinematic light-snack, I'll most certainly take it with a simple grin.Lemmon and Matthau reprise their roles as the neurotic Felix and the often careless and messy Oscar, respectively, this time taking part on a road trip through the confusingly-named towns of California because Oscar's son is planning to wed Felix's daughter. When both men meet at the airport, this is their first sight of each other in seventeen years (or, since the events of the first film), and both haven't changed much at all. When we see Oscar still resides in a cluttered, messy home (only this time in Florida) playing poker with a new band, this time predominately older women, and Felix still uses his loud, obnoxious technique of clearing his sinuses as he is allergic to everything, we see that we, the audience, may have changed but these guys haven't.After both take separate flights to California, they must get to San Malina in time for the big wedding. But after taking the completely opposite highway, losing their car, among a series of other events straight out of the unwritten book of road trip hijinks, the trip is made into an unbelievably long, convoluted state of affairs that test both men in ways they never thought possible.Unsurprisingly, Lemmon and Matthau make the most out of this hit and miss material. Again, I was taken by their random conversations and simple talking points they'd bring up while walking aimlessly throughout the desert. I was amused by their snappy wordplay during calamitous instances. And finally, it was wonderful to see such energy among two great character actors. Here are two men just a few years away from their deaths and they're acting with more energy and vigor than those half their age. Consider Felix's tyrannical rant at Oscar in the desert before ultimately destroying their only means of transportation. I think I'd get winding trying to repeat that, but Lemmon does it with no hesitation.Coming off of both Grumpy Old Men films, two pictures that still possess elements of escapism and realism, The Odd Couple II doesn't seem to quite hold up in that respect. The film plays like the second sequel to the series, but with more emphasis on screwball situations than conversational banter. I was kind of shocked when I saw writer Neil Simon wrote the film after writing the original picture to be the direct opposite from what this project would turn out to be. This only fuels my thoughts that this film was made for the money rather than the idea that more could be done with Felix and Oscar. The Odd Couple II provides for nice, passing entertainment (and works better than Lemmon and Matthau's previous effort Out to Sea), but it leaves one with the lingering question, "was it really necessary?" Starring: Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Directed by: Howard Deutch.

The Odd Couple II (1998) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Thirty (!!!) years after the original film, Felix (Jack Lemmon) and Oscar (Walter Matthau) find themselves thrown back together as they must take a road trip to their children's wedding. THE ODD COUPLE II should have been called GRUMPIEST OLD MEN because it has much more in common with GRUMPY OLD MEN than it does the original 1968 film. In fact, as a sequel this movie is quite bad because it's really not the same characters as before and the entire mood is different but if you go into this expecting another dirty-talking old man movie then you should at least get enough laughs to make it worth sitting through. Once again all the magic is due to Lemmon and Matthau who still have that wonderful chemistry together. The two of them were certainly among the greatest comedy actors out there and when they're together they're even more special. The screenplay here really just puts them in one comedic situation after another and I'll admit that none of it is all that original. There's even a rather lazy sequence in a small town where the two just keep getting arrested over and over. I don't think this happens because of great writing but instead because they needed to pump out the running time so they just kept repeating the same type of joke. The film starts off as a road picture and I think these sequences get the biggest laughs as it relates most to the original film as Oscar has to put up with the various annoying things that Felix does. The film certainly has some major problems including the screenplay that just doesn't do much and instead just has a bunch of cussing and fighting between the two men. Yes, at times it's funny but by 1998 we had already seen it in the two GRUMPY OLD MEN films as well as OUT TO SEA. Still, if you're a fan of the two legends then there's no question you'll still want to check this out even if it falls short of their best films.