A bit of the plot from Moon Over Miami and even more from The Monte Carlo Story has Walter Matthau as a degenerate footloose gambler getting a bit long in the tooth persuading an equally aged, but more square Jack Lemmon to take a cruise and try and fleece the old ladies in Out To Sea.Matthau needs Lemmon because Lemmon can cut it on a dance floor and he's signed them on as dancers for the unescorted women on the cruise. Of course Lemmon doesn't know that. What he does know that Matthau who is the brother of his late wife has come to him with one scheme after another for years. And Matthau owes some big money to the bookies and that's why he needs cash.So they go on the cruise and as for Matthau he gets involved with Dyan Cannon and her mother Elaine Stritch and its poker not the dance floor where he meets them. Matthau has to deal with a pompous Englishman in Edward Mulhare who really is a sitting target for Matthau's cons.As for Lemmon he gets involved with Gloria DeHaven who is accompanying her daughter and husband on a holiday. They don't think she gets out enough. Oddly enough that's how Matthau feels about Lemmon.As for the rest of the cast, Star Trek's Data Brent Spiner has a great part as an obnoxious twit of a performer and dancer who lords it over the others of greater talent who also include Hal Linden and Donald O'Connor. Matthau bounces some great lines off him and Spiner's reactions are priceless. I'd also have to single out Elaine Stritch who comes into her own explaining the facts of life to Cannon.During the Nineties we were fortunate indeed to have Lemmon and Matthau in some great films, specifically written for them. In Out To Sea you can see that a great supporting cast was assembled for them. Like some of the comedy teams, these two comic actors did variations on their first film together The Fortune Cookie where Matthau is the con artist who is always dragging Lemmon into one of his schemes.Out To Sea isn't as good as The Fortune Cookie or the first The Odd Couple, but it's still plenty funny.

Once in a blue moon, along comes a film that is genuinely "sweet." This is one of those rare gems. Expertly directed by Martha Coolidge. What a fun ride this must have been for all concerned. There are legendary performers having a great time on screen and sadly most are now gone. Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon have an on-screen give-and-take that is delicious and funny to watch (and Lemmon has a poignant and wistful scene as well.) Dyan Cannon(with a delightful giggle and a contagious laugh) and Gloria DeHaven are the romantic counterparts to Lemmon and Matthau and it's terrific to watch Edward Mulhare, the great Elaine Stritch, Rue McClanahan, Hal Linden, and wow ---there's Donald O'Connor showing he's still got it(wish his role was bigger.) Finally, although it would seem impossible to steal the movie from such greats –Brent Spiner virtually pulls it off as the arrogant singing cruise director. (He should star in a TV sitcom. –not too late!) His timing is superb. Along with established ballroom dancer, Andre Fortin, the dancing sequences would make "Dancing With the Stars" fans applaud with joy. Don't miss the added dancing sequence during the end credits with all of the stars and some funny outtakes. "Out to Sea" makes you want to finally book that seven day cruise…if only you could bump into these wonderful characters before you head back home.

While this movie is not the most entertaining in the world, I think it is better than most over all. I mean it had it's little laughs and just all around a good feeling. It's not too often we get to see two old geezers just having fun with their age and honestly having a good time with the jokes. Walter and Jack had such a great chemistry together as friends/brother in-laws. Just watching them romancing these women was fun and you rooted for them all the way because wither we have to admit it or not, for their age, they still had game! :D I loved just the whole plot of being able to move on and having fun no matter how old you are. I'd recommend this movie for a nice laugh if you want one.7/10

I never heard of this film when it first came out. It must have sunk immediately. :o) I saw it on cable while sick in hospital so I hardly had enough energy to watch it, let alone turn the channel. Better choice than the Style Channel. ;0(. Filmed on location, this travelogue should have been on the Travel Channel. The plot is recycled from ship board farces of the thirties and forties. The cast seems to have been recycled from the fifties. Donald O'Connor, star of musicals and Edward Mulhare as a card shark. As to the main cast, Walter Matthau is still playing the same part as he did in Guys and Dolls or was it the one about the orphan girl? Wiseacre irresponsible gambler and rounder. But it just doesn't take with a man of his age. As to Jack Lemmon, he plays his part so straight, he can hardly dip and glide when dancing. And as mentioned, Dyan Cannon is outstandingly attractive as another swindler sailing with her mother who thinks Walter is rich, while he thinks she is rich. Elaine Stritch plays Dyan's mother, another retread from the fifties. The most fun is the running feud between Brent Spiner as the domineering and snotty cruise director who immediately spots Walter as a poor dancer, and spends his time trying to get him dismissed so he will have to pay for his free passage. In the end, though he receives his comeuppances. Meanwhile Jack mopes about, meets an attractive woman, with mutual attraction, but their affair is broken up by Walter's lies that Jack is a doctor, when he was actually a retired department store buyer. But finally, the two men take to the sea in a rubber boat to intercept her seaplane and all is well. There does not seem to be any principal player under the age of fifty.