A series of uncomfortable arguments between Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft, then between his family members, then everybody, then he and his brother, then he and Anne Bancroft again. Often excruciating, always boring.

Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft are fun to watch. This is a very enjoyable movie

For roles like this Lemmon deserves Oscar!!! Bravo!

Wow, just wow. The story of This film is transcendent of generations. Mel and Edna can easily be me and my wife. The hardships of the 70'2 are still the same hardships of today. It is 2018 and this film's plot and characters are still just as relevant as when this movie premiered. As a matter of fact, even the news update snippets sound like snippets of today's society. Neil Simon was and will always be known as a great playwright and his stories (just like Shakespeare's) can be used by any generation. The acting was amazing (loved the chemistry of Jack and Anne), great supporting actors portraying great supporting characters. Melvin Frank's vision for the film was a key to the success of this flm. Recomend this to anyone in their forties no matter what year we are living in.

'a lessor neil simon' I don't think so and this has the best balance of humour & pathos no ez feat

Trite and boring. Another waste of time from Doc Neil Simon. I will never understand his appeal. Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft could be more irritating. Avoid It.

A Hearty Approval of a Wonderful Film--Brilliant piece of writing!!

Sous ses abords de comedie hysterique tres theatre filme, Le Prisonnier de la Seconde Avenue est pourtant un film tres reussi, grace a un scenario qui monte crescendo, une interpretation parfaite du couple Jack Lemmon - Anne Bancroft, une musique splendide de Marvin Hamlisch et bien evidemment la mise en scene toute en retenue de Melvin Frank. Une jolie reussite avec en bonus un jeune Sylvester Stallone qui se fait tabasser par Lemmon.

One of my all-time favorites.

There's nothing more amusing than Jack Lemmon slowly losing it until he has a freaked out shouting jag, and this one is filled with that sort of thing. Well worth a rental, or the $3 I paid for it at Big Lots.

Filled with Neil Simon wit and heart tugging drama

If Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue is less than an intense survey of a married couple impelled to nervous breakdown by the exasperations and disgrace of bourgeois living, it still achieves compelling thrust, both somber and hilarious, mostly the latter though. If Melvin Frank's direction is accomplished but not inventive, he's skillfully served by a cast largely populated by Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft, who launch vigorously sincere characterization as credible as the real Second Avenue and other New York locales captured by the Technicolor cameras. Lemmon is aggravated and angst-peppered owing to the defective air-conditioning and thoughtless neighbors in his high-rise apartment house, among other things. And, his tattered nerves aren't greatly relieved when he is fired by his on-the-fence company. As an unemployed ad executive, he can't be liable for being impatient with the unemployment office. And he shouldn't be condemned for pounding on flimsy walls, cursing the neighbors, who drench him with water in reprisal, and developing neuroses swollen by imposed joblessness and appointments with an evasive shrink. If Bancroft, as his genuinely devoted spouse who purposefully gets a job to sustain them, becomes overwrought and bemused to the point of paranoia, she, too, can't be blamed for her mounting worries when she ultimately must choose whether to receive financial help from her husband's apprehensive, if quizzical, siblings. Lemmon, no alien to Simon's work, and Bancroft are most believable and identifiable when unromanticized, and the strength of the piece is in their collaboration in roles as familiar in their comic reciprocating as many of New York's scuttling millions. And they get strong support from Odd Couple director Gene Saks, as Lemmon's prosperous, straightforward older brother and Elizabeth Wilson and Florence Stanley, as his suspicious sisters, not to mention a young Sylvester Stallone's hilarious scene, which could be the high point of the picture. They aren't in the thick of Greek tragedy or in humdrum sitcom 온라인카지노추천. Simon is sober about a premise that isn't momentous and he reasonably swathes its earnestness with real laughs that pop up, including radio news items such as the update that a Polish freighter has just collided with the Statue of Liberty. And, with a cast whose members recognize the value of what they're saying and doing, the trials and tribulations of Second Avenue become a diversion.

Neil Simon's sharp dialogue and a flat out fantastic performance by Jack Lemmon are reasons enough to watch this obscure comedy about a married couple whose world crumbles around them.

Well adapted screen version of a Simon's play, mainly as Lemmon and Bancroft work the comedy lines and bounce off each other with great effect.

Neil Simon's adaptation of his own playscript is bearable because it's two leads bring such passion and pathos to the project, especially Bancroft - you actually believe they are real people and care about their plight. The script isn't quite as cohesive as it might have been, but watch for fine support from Elizabeth Wilson, Florence Stanley (repeating her stage role), and pre-fame cameos from F. Murray Abraham and Sylvester Stallone.

First off I have to point out that while this is a 4 star film, I had to deduct half a star because of the swearing (believe it or not). This was a time in movie history where film makers were beginning to feel the shackles come off from the days where the movie code was very restricting. It seemed they really set out to prove something and lasted well into the 80s. Aside from that factor Jack Lemmon was in top form! No one can play a down on his luck schmuck like he can. Unlike the other Neil Simon-Jack Lemmon film, "Out-Of-Towners", this movie take a considerably darker tone. It's humorous but only in a gut wrenching, pathetic sort of way. It doesn't focus so much on being a comedy of errors as much as it digs deeper into the human psyche, so where as fans of "Out-Of-Towners" will enjoy it, expect a little more depth. As for Anne Bancroft, it's hard to believe this is the same actress who played Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate 8 years earlier.

Lemmon is a good, Bancroft is better. Great movie.

Well written and well acted film, one film I would have like to see the play of. Jack Lemmon is one of my favorite actors always plays the perfect everyman. I imagine this film as the sequel to The Apartment, Jack plays practically the same character in my opinion but thats not a bad thing. A bit over dramatic at times but it's a great film none the less.

I absolutely love that mvie!!! IT is so funny!! If you've never seen it, rent it right away, if you saw it years ago, rent it again, its' full of good clean laughs!! My son & I can repeat parts of that movie whenever we feel like having a good laugh!!!

Who knew they made semi-clever movies in the 70s?