The Odd Couple 2 (1998): Dir: Howard Deutch / Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Mathau, Jonathan Silverman, Christine Baranski, Jean Smart: The original film was a big hit in 1968 and led to the engaging comic pairings of its leads. This thirty year new sequel is nothing more than a road movie with lackluster locations and a complete lack of anything that made The Odd Couple so memorable. What is truly unfortunate is that Jack Lemmon and Walter Mathou are hilarious but in the original they emerge as personalities whereas in this dreadful sequel they are merely props. They play Oscar and Felix and the road trip to get to a wedding between Oscar's son and Felix's daughter. Boring setup trudges the formula and arrives at absolutely nothing. Directed by Howard Deutch who previously directed both leads in Grumpier Old Men. He does his best here but is up against a wall in creating anything as good as the original. The supporting roles are basically there to sideline the humour spewed by the leads. Jonathan Silverman plays Oscar's son in complete one note fashion. Christine Baranski also appears to what avail. The Odd Couple is hilarious and engaging so it is with great regret that after thirty years the best that could be constructed for a sequel had to be this pathetic and sorry sequel that should be dropped in an inner-state during the filming of this dull road odyssey. Score: 1 / 10

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.

I'm a great admirer of (Neil Simon). He is one of the comedy's greatest writers ever, but you may think that he becomes sort of sluggard as he aged. Since the mid 1980s his work, save a few movies, came to be less bright, for instance : (The Slugger's Wife - 1985), (The Marrying Man - 1991), and now (The Odd Couple II - 1998). There is something hasty about this comedy. Surely (Simon) was out of his pulse.OK, so there is some marriage that will gather the 2 mortal-enemies-friends again but (Simon) occupies himself with very easy sketches without fair climax that may utilize the attitude till its end (hysterical wedding for example).He weakly made the whole thing into 2 halves. The first seems as an extension of a pale road movie yet has all the possible comedy. And the second one is too short, without any laughs, where even the main irony lazily is not utilized at all.(Simon) used to be the master of the wickedest, most hilarious lines. Here, the dialog was lively but not effective. The lines were short, quick, and unbroken but not quite droll. There weren't even good enough ones to hide the little situations. The survivors are 2 or 3; like Oscar saying to a young girl : "I'm not as old as I look. I had this plastic surgery done recently, and the quack doctor botched it up", and when the girl asks about the silent Felix beside him, Oscar says : "He's the doctor who botched it up !!". It is funny, but just imagine how the rest was always lower than this.It's nearly an incomplete TV show; some joy out of seeing the original odd couple ride again, a few cynical situations, couple of gags, and that's it. The most memorable thing about it, is that it's the last movie for the genius partnership between (Jack Lemmon) and (Walter Matthau). At the time, I told myself when the two bid farewell to each other at the end, it could be real farewell, and sadly it was. As (Matthau) died in July 2000, and in less than a year (Lemmon) died in June 2001.Don't compare it with the 1968 movie because it'll look like the commercial exploitation. It was not satisfying as a sequel for the odd couple, or as a swansong for both of the 2 comedy legends.It's not a whole good night, it's just g.n. !

It is sad to think that we will not have any more gems from either of these two screen legends. Lemmon was a great actor, as can be seen in any one of his many films (particularly, "Days of Wine and Roses," "Glen Garry Glen Ross"). He had a broad range, and could play comedy with the best of them ("Mr. Roberts," "How to Murder Your Wife," etc.) Matthau was a breed apart, having done many dramatic roles in is early career ("The Kentuckian," "Fail Safe"), but it was light comedy where he truly shined. He was one of those true "naturals." So, after the "Grumpy Old Men" successes, they are paired for "The Odd Couple II." From the broad range of commentary here, there are those who celebrate this film, and those who think it is lame. I feel it has good performances in a so-so plot, but it think it was a bad choice. They were both great in the first "Odd Couple," but who can deny that they abdicated the roles of Oscar and Felix to two consummate professionals, Jack Klugman and Tony Randall on TV? They polished those roles to perfection, and they had done all that could be done with them. It was pointless for Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau to go there again.For me, "Grumpy Old Men" is how I would like to remember them. That film had a good story, and was supported by a great team of veterans, Burgess Meredith in particular. In that film, even the out-takes are great."The Odd Couple II" reminds me in many ways of "Tough Guys." Both films had legends, both as teams and as individual actors, so when Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster appear together for the last time, you want for them to have something really special. That is what we wanted for Jack Lemmon and Walther Matthau. These films are okay, but only because the actors are in them. They are not good enough movies to honor their memories.