The Odd Couple II (1998)

Oscar and Felix take a road trip to their son and daughter's wedding.

Director:

Howard Deutch

Writer:

Neil Simon

Stars:

Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Richard Riehle

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Lemmon	...	Felix Ungar
Walter Matthau	...	Oscar Madison
Richard Riehle	...	Chief of Police
Jonathan Silverman	...	Brucey Madison
Lisa Waltz	...	Hannah Unger
Mary Beth Peil	...	Felice
Christine Baranski	...	Thelma
Jean Smart	...	Holly
Rex Linn	...	JayJay
Jay O. Sanders	...	Leroy
Barnard Hughes	...	Beaumont
Ellen Geer	...	Frances Unger Melnick
Doris Belack	...	Blanche Madison Povitch
Lou Cutell	...	Abe
Mary Fogarty	...	Flossie, the Grouch

Storyline

It has been seventeen years now since Oscar and Felix saw each other for the last time. Oscar is living in Florida, Felix in New York. One day, Oscar is called by his son Brucey who invites him to his wedding to Felix' daughter Hannah next Sunday in California. Oscar and Felix meet again at Los Angeles International Airport and take a rental car in order to go to San Malina for the wedding. The trip develops into an odyssey, starting with Oscar forgetting Felix' suitcase at the Budget station, going over to the complete loss of the directions (and the car), several difficulties with the police, a dead person, a toupee, underwear and revenge-hungry Cowboys and ending up with Felix meeting the "one and only" woman. But the wedding has to be reached on time.

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Plot Keywords:

car over cliff | road movie | four word title | old friend | roman numeral in title | 

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Taglines:

Some arguments stand the test of time

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

10 April 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Odd Couple 2: Travelin' Light

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,810,288, 12 April 1998

Gross USA:

$18,912,328

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Cort/Madden Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Final of six appearances by Walter Matthau in a Neil Simon written film. The others were The Odd Couple (1968); Plaza Suite (1971); The Sunshine Boys (1975), California Suite (1978) and I Ought to Be in Pictures (1982).

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Goofs

When Felix and Oscar are called out of the holding cell, Felix says "If we go down, you go down with us" to the truck driver. As he says this it cuts between two shots quickly, and in the first shot when he says, "If we go down ..." his mouth isn't moving.

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Quotes

Oscar Madison: Nothing has changed, Felix. I'm still a pig, you're still a human vacuum cleaner.

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Connections

References Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

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Soundtracks

The Odd Couple
By Neal Hefti

User Reviews

Fair as a movie, bad as a sequel to the original

Unfortunately, I've never seen any version of the play except for the original movie, so I have little idea about the original play and the shows. But to me this movie is exactly like every other movie Matheau and Lemmon did since 1990, and it lacks the simplicity of the 1968 original which made them popular as a comedy/film duo. While the original was mainly performance and character driven, which is what made it so innovative, this one has little to do with the actual characters of Felix and Oscar and their bad chemistry together. It is more plot driven, which is what kills it. In fact, it could have been any two people with the exact same plot and nothing would change, whereas in the original the character's behaviour would have effected the plot a bit. Not only that, but there's no more satire and comments on marriage and divorce except the little bit at the end, which I felt was out of character for the play. You would think there would also be a comment on growing old and dying together, but there isn't because the plot gets in the way. Some may say that movies now have to be more plot driven and not as simplistic as they were 50 years ago, but I'd have to say they're wrong. A plot can still ruin a movie while one which is simply performance based can still make it today. Anyhow, the original is still much more popular.