The Odd Couple II

1998 / Director. Howard Deutch.

The wonderful and hilarious on-screen partnership between Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau endured right until the end. Finding the right dynamic with The Odd Couple in 1968 they continued to make several films together, most predominantly as older men during the late 90s. The most successful and enduring of their subsequent films was Grumpy Old Men, which itself could have easily served as a sequel to The Odd Couple. It was inevitable that with a renewed popularity, an official sequel would come about and Neil Simon picked up his pen and revisited Oscar and Felix 30 years later. It's been 17 years since their paths have crossed but when Oscar's son announces he is marrying Felix's daughter, the two old friends find themselves on the road together with a huge sense of deja vu. As a sequel, compared to the first film, The Odd Couple 2 is a pale reflection and probably shouldn't have been made at all... however, Lemon and Matthau still have a wonderful chemistry and both deliver some big laughs. In terms of it being a sequel to The Odd Couple, there is a lot wrong with it. Where the first movie's strength was it's emotional anchor and one-room setting, this second story is convoluted and empty. It's a comedy of errors and basically an excuse for Matthau to hurl one-liners in rapid succession (they are hilarious lines, I admit). Also degrading to the legacy is the addition of course language. Felix lets a few F-bombs fly, which really takes away so much of what made the original so special. And so as a sequel The Odd Couple 2 is very disappointing...  but if they'd made it into a 3rd Grumpy Old Man movie, it would have scored!! 

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