[Save the Tiger] asks us to accept Harry's own justification for what he does -- that American materialism has turned him into what he is. And this is a moral hustle that must have enchanted the movie executives who financed this picture.

| Sep 29, 2023

Avildsen has a particular talent for recreating lifelike situations. Here, his camera works like a magnet, picking up each squalid detail.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 11, 2021

The only thing that saves "Save the Tiger" is Lemmon's highly believable dramatic performance.

| Jun 11, 2021

Lemmon is acutely sensitive at earning pity in this exceptional acting achievement. His brain in a vise is yours, for a time.

| Jun 11, 2021

At times, many times, in "Save The Tiger" one wants to yell out to Harry Stoner, "Hey, man, either quit your job or stop complaining." And then one realizes that it's not Harry's fault.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 11, 2021

Just a few wry degrees in another direction would have made us scorn Harry and his sentimental self-serving values. But, Lemmon is a great sympathy-bidder and his worst punishment is to feel sad.

| Jun 11, 2021

It's a sad, powerful, depressing movie.

| Jun 11, 2021

Save the Tiger is a small and intensely personal work, carrying the concerns of Shagan (who fought for two years to get it financed), Lemmon (who did it for no salary) and Avildsen (whose sympathetic response to the material is evident in every frame).

| Jun 11, 2021

There is a lot of mature, untapped ability on display in Lemmon's performance.

| Mar 26, 2009

"Save The Tiger" never succeeds in disassociating itself from the self-pity it details.

| May 9, 2005

Save the Tiger is essentially a virtuoso piece of movie acting. Jack Lemmon holds the movie together by the sheer force of his performance as Harry; he makes this character so convincing that we're fascinated.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 23, 2004