Review of The Fortune Cookie (1966) by Kyle B — 28 Nov 2014

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 TV 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.