Review of The Fortune Cookie (1966) by Lee M — 02 Mar 2009

The Fortune Cookie is a brilliant film, cynical and satirical and yet uplifting. Its protagonist (Jack Lemmon) is a cameraman, which allowed director Billy Wilder to insert all kinds of commentary on movie-making, as if he wasn't making comment enough on greed and the "everyone sues everyone for everything" future of capitalist America.

An almost prophetic film that features Walter Matthau's break-out role. The division into little chapters didn't really do the film any favours, and from time to time the whole enterprise was beset by a little too much sentiment, but these complaints aren't enough to make this any less than an absolute classic.

That Abraham Lincoln's words ring throughout - "you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time" - is a testament to exactly what Wilder feared America was to become.

.. a nation of people willing to live an extended lie just to make a quick million. Great, great film.