It’s hard to believe that a Billy Wilder film starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau bored me, but that’s exactly what The Fortune Cookie did. Whether it’s the depressing story or the dull characters, this is one you can go ahead and skip.

There's a lot of unrealized potential here but it's worth seeing for Matthau's fantastic performance.

I usually love Billy Wilder films. And while Matthau is great and deserved his Oscar, getting through this film is really a labor. I think a big part of the problem is the ‘Chapters’ announcing like book chapters, each new segment. The effect is thst it just feels endless, like trying to get through a book you are not interested in, but required to finish.

A nice, but sad commedy with an end of hope.

Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and a few others you'll recognize from television fame. An amusing story.

Forget everything else. Walter Matthau steals everything in this movie.

very funny movie - great lines - Lemmon and Matthau are spot on.

The first on-screen teaming of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau*, this film won the latter the Best Supporting Oscar. That's a great reward, as production on the film stopped after Matthau had a heart attack. He lost thirty pounds in the hospital, so if you see any scenes in this movie where he has on a heavy jacket, they were shot after the health crisis. Lemmon plays cameraman Harry Hinkle and he's knocked out during a play when Cleveland Browns player Luther "Boom Boom" Jackson (Ron Rich) runs him over. Harry's fine, but his brother-in-law William H. "Whiplash Willie" Gingrich (Walter Matthau) comes up with a plan to get some insurance money. The only reason Harry plays along? The chance to get his ex-wife Sandy (Judi West) to love him again. After this film, Lemmon and Matthau would team up for The Odd Couple, Kotch, The Front Page, Buddy Buddy, Grumpy Old Men, The Grass Harp, Grumpier Old Men, Out to Sea and The Odd Couple II. They bonded early in the production process and connected over their love of football. They would remain close for the rest of their lives. This was directed by Billy Wilder and it sparkles. You can buy the new blu ray release of this movie from Kino Lorber. It comes complete with the Trailers from Hell episode about the film; commentary from Joseph McBride, author of Billy Wilder: Dancing on the Edge and even a clip of Jack Lemmon asking for extras to show up to the crowd scenes that were filmed in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium. *Frank Sinatra and Jackie Gleason were also suggested for the role, but Lemmon insisted that Matthau be in the movie.

A classic in my opinion. Very well written.

Some very funny moments aside this film is filled with unredeemable characters at their worst. The only decent person is played by Ron Rich yet he tortures himself over false guilt. Matthau's performance as the embodiment of sleaze both overwhelms and overshadows. While highly watchable those of us who have encountered real people with similar traits are left with the distinct feeling that the film actually aided some in their desires to get what they want by the most devious means possible.

Lemmon, Matthau and Billy Wilder always get the praise, but in this review I'm going to single out Ron Rich and Judi West. Rich plays the affable athlete who thinks he's paralyzed Lemmon's character and the guilt drives him to ruin. West is Lemmon's estranged wife, who comes back to hoping to score big on the swindle job Matthau has cooked up. Both Rich and West are absolutely great in these supporting, yet pivotal, roles (it was Walter Matthau won the best support actor award). It's a shame neither Rich or West landed such plum roles ever again.

I'm a big fan of Wilder, Lemmon and Matthau, but I didn't care for this one very much. The story just wasn't that interesting or amusing.

The frustrating story guts the charm of its actors.

There's a lot of unrealized potential here but it's worth seeing for Matthau's fantastic performance.

The best comedy movie ever made!

Billy Wilder offers another riff on the insurance scam with this over-long but mordantly witty comedy, superbly performed by the sublime odd couple, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Matthau in particular relishes his role as the world's most devious huckster and is laugh out loud hilarious. It's a pity that so many of the supporting performances are undercast and that Wilder didn't trim a good twenty minutes from the running time, but it's still a delightful entertainment, aided considerably by Andre Previn's lugubrious jazz score.

Great performances from all but it got a little thin taking place in only one or so rooms.

Las buenas intenciones y una magnífica dirección del gran Billy Wilder.

I've always liked this Billy Wilder film, though I never felt it balanced the bittersweet comedy and dramatic elements as well as his earlier collaboration with star Jack Lemmon in "The Apartment." Here Lemmon is a 온라인카지노추천 cameraman who gets accidentally tackled during an NFL game. Enter his ambulance chasing lawyer brother-in-law, the great Walter Matthau, and his ex-wife who he still carries a torch for, Judi West, who both see dollar signs as a result of Lemmon's injuries and convince him to fake his pain and suffering. Lemmon is s wonderfully sympathetic sad sack, but Matthau steals the show, which earned him a well deserved Oscar. I'm actually reading Cameron Crowe's interview book with Billy Wilder right now and that made this film all the more enjoyable. There's also a nice score by André Previn. Overall, this film isn't as good as Wilder's best pictures, though that's a pretty high bar considering he made some unquestionable Hollywood classics ("Stalag 17," "Sunset Boulevard," "Some Like it Hot," etc.), but it's still a terrific film that kicked off the partnership on one of the great comic duos with Lemmon and Matthau. As an aside, this film made me want to re-watch "Charley Varrick," which is a pretty different sort of Walter Matthau role, but I need to watch some more of his stuff again.

And this completes my Billy Wilder Trilogy of this rainy Saturday. Matthau and Lemmon being funny, but the whole thing growing old at some point. Maybe it was just too long for what it was?